Harry Potter and the Magic of Paragon
by Paragon-Stories
Summary: If a young girl from the Role Playing Game system of Paragon had been living next to Harry Potter his whole life, would that life be any different? Why yes, if that girl was a Natural Magician, a spellcaster of quite a different type then that world was used to. In fact, her magic can do things wanded wizards can only dream of.
1. Chapter 1

1

Setting the stage

Time: 3 years ago

Place: 6 Pivot Drive

_Most people, _thought Susan, quietly contemplating her bedroom, _are born into the place they belong. This does not seem to be the case with me. _She was currently in a "time out" for having used magic, and had been sent to her room 10 minutes ago. Her cat, Sparkle, was currently keeping her company by curling up on her lap. Sparkle was a mostly black cat, long haired, with a starburst pattern in white on her chest. She was 8 years old, and born on the same day as Susan herself. This explained the "Companion" written on her character sheet. As she gazed at her sheet she read over what she already knew. She was 8 years old and had long blond hair. She had a 5 in LOOks, meaning she was neither pretty nor plain, and had green eyes. She was left handed, and her "background card" was "Lost Loved One(s)" which explained why her father had been tragically killed years earlier. She was also, as far she she knew, the only _Natural Magician _on the planet, able to shape her own internal energies into magic and cast spells.

This was relevant because Susan had just learned the "Detect Lies" spell and went to go ask her mother if her father had really perished as she had been told. She wasn't sure why, exactly, she had suddenly become curious about this, but nonetheless, she was. She sighed.

"I told you not use it on her," said Sparkle, opening one eye and lifting her head from Susan's lap. "Adults lie to kids all the time, it's just something that's done."

"I couldn't very well just take your word for it, now could I?" she said rather peevishly.

"I suppose you do have Curious, after all. Still, did you have to shout at her that she was lying? I doubt she appreciated it."

"I agree, the shouting part might have been a little much. I blame my high RESolve."

"Rather then using your high REAson to think about what a terrible idea that would be?"

"Humph."

_The problem is no matter what I do, mom just dismisses my magic as being a kids game or a trick. She yelled at me for "printing out garbage" when I showed her my character sheet, and none of the kids at school seem to even know what they are. When I ask someone what backgrounds they have, or how much energy they can spend per action they just give me a blank look. Clearly something is going on here. Either I have been born into the wrong universe, or only some people get character sheets and spell books when they're born. The question becomes how do I determine which is the correct answer without getting thrown in the looney bin?_

Susan glanced over at her bookcase, where sitting on top was an ancient looking book with a rough leather cover. She looked down at her character sheet at "Resources: Equipment" and shook her head, thinking about how many excuses her mother had made seeing it. It has always been in her room, since the day she was born, and as it was part of her character sheet, it kept coming back. Her mother had apparently thrown it away several times, but it always turned back up. Now her mother seemed to have a blind spot for it and pretended it didn't exist.

_Thank goodness it does, _thought Susan, _Or I would have no place to learn magic from!_

Sparkle got up and stretched, heading to the window.

"He's leaving again," she said, looking out at the house next door.

"The opposite?" she asked. Her name for the skinny kid that lived next door, at 4 Pivot Drive, was "the opposite". This was because he was the opposite of all the other people that lived there.

Sparkle nodded, and Susan bounced up off her bed to look down at him walking past. _He never seems very happy_, she thought. And despite going to her school she didn't know much about him. He didn't seem to have many friends, though this being due to a low PERsonality or some other weakness, like _Creepy, _she couldn't be sure.

"There's something wrong about him." Sparkle remarked. "I just wish I could put my paw on what."

"Oh, for just ten seconds of looking at his character sheet."

"That would solve things." They both watched him turn and go around the back of the house, kicking his feet and slumping over.

"You've been practicing your _Magic Sense_ right?" Sparkle said, jerking her head back to look at Susan.

"Sure, even if you are the only thing that seems to be magical around here. Why?"

"Just a hunch. Let's go check out that boy."

"You think- him?"

"It makes sense. Maybe he's in the same situation as you, and he gets in trouble for using magic as well? Or he can't control it because he doesn't have the "Resources" background you do. Not to mention your being a _Prodigy_, so your stats are probably higher then his."

"I suppose it's worth a try," Susan agreed. "It can't hurt, and maybe if I find out what's bothering him I can have my book suggest a spell to try and help him out!"

"Now, if I'm right-"

"Susan!" yelled a voice from downstairs. "You can come out now!"

"Thanks mom!" Susan yelled back.

"Yup. It was plot related. You needed to be in this room so you could see The Opposite leave and decide to see what was up with him."

"You might be right."

Once outside, Susan and Sparkle took off after The Opposite, and found him leaning against a tree as far from the house as he could but still be on the property.

"Hi!" she said to him, rolling a 12 on her PERsonality check. "I'm Susan from next door. I thought you might like to play or something!"

The Opposite seemed a bit startled and his eyes darted this way and that. They finally settled on her.

"Me? You want to play with me?"

"Well we do live next door to each other," said Susan, fixing him with a gaze and rolling a _Magic Sense_ on him. She rolled a 7, which was half her rating and got nothing. However, Sparkle rolled a 10, almost maximum, and nodded her head.

"Did that cat just nod at you?" said The Opposite, not missing a trick.

"I have a confession to make," said Susan. "I actually came over here to see if you were a wizard, like me."

"I wish, then I could- wait, you're serious?"

"Just a second," she said, rolling the check again, and taking the −1 penalty for retrying. This time she did much better, and felt something weird about him.

"You are a wizard!" she exclaimed. "But you feel weird compared to Sparkle."

"Is this the game we're playing?" The Opposite sounded unsure. "My Aunt and Uncle throw a fit if they catch me even thinking about magic for some reason."

"I bet you were right!" Susan said to Sparkle. "Maybe he is a wizard and his- wait, those aren't your parents?"

"No, they died in a car crash, at least according to them." He said "them" with more then a trace of scorn while pointing at the house.

"That's terrible! You must miss them something awful! My father may or may not have died in a similar way, so I know how you feel."

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that. I was just a baby, apparently."

"Still. Anyway, I bet you're a wizard and they just don't want you to find out about it and learn to use your powers! This is so great! I've got a huge book of spells at home, I can copy some out and you can see if you can learn them! Can I see your character sheet?"

"Slow down, what are you talking about? Book of spells? Character sheets?"

"You don't have a character sheet?" Susan was crestfallen. "Maybe you just don't know how to call it out? But I didn't really have to learn that, it just sort of happened."

"Are you teasing me?" asked The Opposite, "Because I get enough of that at home. And at school. And in my dreams. Pretty much everywhere, actually."

"I'm serious. Look, I'll prove it! _Light!_" Susan held out a hand and a tiny ball of appeared, floating above it.

The Opposite's eyes got wider. "That is so cool! It's real- magic is real!"

"As real as I am. I can… teach you if you want." Her cheeks colored a little.

The Opposite glanced over at the house. "We'll have to do it in secret."

Susan let the ball of light go and it winked out. "It's more fun that way anyway, right?"

The two grinned at each other.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He held out his hand for Susan to shake, which she did.

"This is Sparkle, she's my familiar."

"Hello," said Sparkle.

Harry fell over backwards. "Your cat can talk?"

—

1.5

Setting the Stage

Time: The day Harry received his first letter

Place: 6 Pivot Drive

"It was a letter, addressed to me," said Harry to Susan, both of them sitting in her room. They had been friends for three years now, and Susan, to her dismay, had yet to work out why Harry's magic wasn't working. It was obvious to anyone that spent any time around him that he was magical. That trip to the zoo with the snake incident proved it, if any more proof was needed. She and Harry had studied Susan's book of spells for any clues, and while Harry was almost as knowledge as she was in _Magical Theory_ and _Magical Scripture_ he couldn't perform a single spell from her book. Nor could he _Imbue _or _Fabricate_ anything, despite weeks of trying. It was all very peculiar. He could make things happen, yes, but not with any accuracy. And when he did, her _Magic Sense_ buzzed oddly, totally unlike watching Sparkle cast a spell. She had even leaned the _Research_ spell, and tried looking things up, but everything there contradicted her own experience. Still, Harry was a good friend to her and seemed to be less sad these past few years. She didn't realize it, but Sparkle had noticed that once she started hanging out with Harry, she didn't get into as much trouble as she had before. Like he had calmed her down a little by acting as a sort of relief valve for her. They helped each other, in other words, and both were better for it.

"Was there a return address?" asked Sparkle. "I'm to understand they can be used to tell who sent a letter."

"That's the odd part, it just a funny symbol on the back. And get this- no stamp."

"What did The Others say?" The Others were her name for the Dursleys, of course.

"That's the strangest thing of all; They almost looked positively afraid- of a letter! And Other Senior" (as he was known) "said they swore to, and I quote 'stamp out that dangerous nonsense.' unquote."

"They know," Susan gasped. "That can be the only reason. We've never found any sort of curse or binding on you, but it would explain why you can't use magic. Maybe they just missed me?"

"Who is they?"

"Whoever sent the letter! They must be wizards too! That's why all the oddities surrounding this letter. You remember that spell I showed you that can materialize an object near someone? I bet they just did that when the regular mail came, though really it seems an odd way to go about things."

"Yeah, they could have contacted me in a dream or, I don't know, _come in person_? Given the nature of my situation?"

"Well, there must be a reason for it. They can't be ignorant about the attitudes of The Others, could they? My guess is young wizards get restricted somehow from using magic until they're old enough. It just so happened I got the book and everything, because even wizards aren't perfect. That's why your magic is so erratic, the block is breaking down."

"That would explain things," Harry said slowly. "My parents were wizards and something happened to them. My aunt, having lost her sister to a magical accident, became bitter about the whole thing and doesn't want me to meet the… same…" he trailed off. "No, it seems like they don't care if I live or die. Maybe my mother got magic but her sister didn't? So it was more jealousy then anything? Then something she was so proud of got her killed, and my aunt felt justified in her belief? I don't know."

"Well, one way to know for sure!" bubbled Susan. "Before your mail comes tomorrow, let me in. I'll be invisible. I'll wait by the mail slot and hope everyone is in another room when the mail comes. That way I can grab it and hide it, and give it to you to read later!"

"That's a great plan! But wait, what if he's waiting for it?"

"Humm…" Susan thought for a moment. "What did he do with the first one?"

"Burned it."

"Perfect. If he does the same, I'll just follow along behind him. When he goes to throw it into the fire, I'll cast _Retrieval. _As long as he's not holding onto it, *poof*, it'll be in my hand, and he can tear about the place looking for it all he likes. Wait a second…" She went over to her spellbook and started leafing through it. "You wouldn't call _Retrieval _an 'offensive spell' would you?"

"I'm not offended," answered Harry.

"I don't think so," said Sparkle, rolling her eyes.

"Then that's the plan. Operation: _Get the Letter_ is now underway."

—

As luck would have it, the hallway was clear when the letter arrived, so Susan gleefully scooped it up before Other Junior came waddling by. Susan, taking no chances, had put all the energy she could into casting _Invisibility _making her roll very high indeed. She watched as Junior thumped his stupid stick (_I so want to _Elemental Bolt (fire) _that stick, _thought Susan) down the hall towards the mail slot. He checked carefully around the pile of letters, then peaked out the mail slot.

"Well?" Senior roared from the other room.

"Nothing for Harry," replied Junior, scooping up the rest of the mail and heading back. Susan stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, that's sorted then," said Senior. "Wonder if I should put you back in the cupboard, my boy?"

"I want my room back!" shouted Junior.

"Oh, leave it," sighed Other's Wife, "It's all junk up there anyway."

_Oh really? _Thought Susan. _We'll just see about that._

She quietly headed up the stairs and looked in all the rooms until she found the one she was looking for. It was hard to miss, with the broken TV, video camera, bent air gun, and other junk lying about. A few quick castings of the _Repair _spell and she quietly snuck out, leaving everything in the room as pristine as the day it made. _Let them work that one out._

Later that afternoon, Harry came bursting into her house, his eyes shining with excitement.

"So did you get it, or did they not send another? I'm about to burst but I had to wait so they didn't get suspicious. Do you have it?"

"Well…" she said, peering into her sleeve. "It's not up this sleeve."

"Come on!"

"And it's not up this one…"

Sparkle sighed. "Really? You're tormenting the poor boy now?"

"What's this behind your ear," she asked, reaching for him. She brushed his ear and cast _Retrieval, _pulling the letter out of her room where she had left it. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"Can I have it please?"

"I guess it's a felony to interfere with the mail…"

"Come on!"

"Okay, here."

Harry tore the envelope open and Susan grabbed it from him, shocked. "Careful, it could have clues on it. That symbol, for one."

"I'm just so nervous!" He started to read. "Get this, I've apparently been accepted to some school of witchcraft and wizardry. Also they shall 'await my owl' whatever that means."

"Now wait just a second," said Sparkles, springing up from the bed. "Who in this room has complete control of their magic? That's right, us two. Who can do at least two dozen spells? Again, us! So where's Susan's letter inviting her to this so called magical school, that's what I want to know."

"I appreciate the thought," said Susan, "But I'm sure there's some explanation for it."

"There had better be, and a darn good one."

"There's also a list of books and some equipment I have to buy. Can't see The Others springing for any of this stuff, even if I knew where to get it."

"Books plural?"

"Yup. A standard book of spells (grade 1)-"

"Wait, they only teach you grade 1 spells in your first year? I've learned pocket dimension, that's grade 6!"

Harry shrugged. "A history book, a book on Magical Theory, bet you I get top marks in that class, thanks to you, something called transfiguration, then herbs and potions. I also apparently need a wand, a telescope, of all things, and a set of scales. Hey, I could bring a cat! But I can't own my own _broomstick? _Maybe they messed up and this really is your letter, I can't see myself flying about on a broomstick. But you can already fly, can't you? Weird."

"I'll say. I suppose the potions stuff could be _Imbuing_, but you tried and tried that and it wouldn't work for you. None of this makes any sense."

"Could I use a different _kind_ of magic?"

"How many kinds of magics do you want on this planet?" Susan asked, a bit shocked.

"It would explain why your senses are off about me, and why I can't do your magic at all."

"Yeah, I guess. How are we ever going to reply to this letter?"

"Magic?"

"Oh yeah! Stupid of me. Just a second, that sounds like a Mercury based spell." Susan looked through her book of magic. "Ah, _Send Object, _that sounds promising. I need to know the identity of the person to send it to, which I guess would be the person that signed the letter, but I also need to know their general location. Let me keep looking. You write a reply that they're all mad or whatever and to come see you in person to explain things."

"Right!" said Harry, grabbing a notebook and tearing a sheet out of it. He sat down at Susan's desk and began to write.

"This might take a while…" muttered Susan.

Susan first had to read the spell of _Descry Creature_, making a _Magical Scripture_ check to understand the writings. She exactly made the difficulty, which was a 12. She then used _Magical Theory_ to understand it enough to cast it. She rolled an 18 on this check, more then enough. She then was able to cast the spell from the writing, and sacrificed a bunch of energy to make sure it worked, as she had no idea how far away this "deputy headmaster" was. She got a total of 16, meaning as long as she wasn't 10,000,000 km away (and she wasn't) Susan now knew exactly where this Hogwarts was and furthermore, where Mrs McGonagall was. She then repeated the procedure for the _Send Object_ spell, rolling a 16 and 17 respectively. She gave a sigh of relief, nothing to it.

By that time Harry had finished his letter and she read it over.

_Dear Mrs McGonagall,_

_ I hope you are not too startled by the appearance of this letter, I had my friend send it on to you because I don't own an owl. I am sure this was just an oversight on your part, given the great number of students you must send letters to every year. I am however anxious to attend your fine school, but I need to request more information. Where do I go to buy my books and supplies? How do I reach the school? I am unsure if my guardians, the Dursleys, will even let me attend, though I guess it would get me out of the house, which they might be happy about? They don't seem too keen on magic, however. If a representative from the school could find some time to come down and straighten these few things out, I would really appreciate it. _

_ Thank you for you time, I know you're probably really busy, but it's sort of an emergency. _

_ Yours,_

_ Harry Potter_

_ P.S. My neighbor, Susan Felton, wonders if she could be considered for your school as well. She is about a hundred times the wizard I currently am, and the one who sent this letter. _

"Sounds good to me!" said Susan, folding it up. "Just write 'To Minerva McGonagall" on the front and we'll send it on its way."

Harry did so, and watched with interest as Susan cast _Send Object_ from her book. The letter disappeared.

"Well, that's it," said Susan, standing up again and closing the book. "The letter has, if everything went well and I think it did, just appeared right near her. Hopefully you'll get a response by owl or whatever tomorrow. We'll do the same thing, I'll be invisible to make sure I can grab it before anyone else does."

This of course proved completely unnecessary because not five minutes later, a large number of people with severe expressions and wands showed up out of nowhere demanding to know how the letter got past the wards around Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Taking a Detour

Time: ten minutes later

Place: 4 Pivot Drive, living room

Cast: A group of Hogwarts professors (including Dumbledore), The Dursleys, Susan, Harry, Susan's mother

The wizards in the room were staring fixedly at the book Susan had brought over. The Dursleys, or at least Senior, looked like he was alternating between absolute fury at having his home invaded by wizards and terror at trying to do anything about it. His lip was twitching involuntarily whenever he looked at Harry, who was trying to cast the invisibility spell by sheer will, and not having any luck. Harry's aunt just looked resigned, and Junior kept peaking around the corner into the room. Susan's mother, Stacey, looked a bit nervous but was more confused then anything.

"I'm not getting anything from this," said the one with the long silvery beard and half moon glasses. "You say you can do magic from this book? That you have, in fact, learned magic from it?" he asked Susan.

She nodded.

"Now, now, don't be shy. You just rather surprised us, that's all. Nothing to worry about!"

"You all seemed rather angry before…"

The one with the greasy hear sneered in their general direction. "Already making trouble, Potter? You probably did this and are just trying to blame someone else!"

"There is no way a student, who doesn't even have his wand, could have breached the wards at Hogwarts, Severus," said the older woman. She looked quite stern.

"But obviously it was done Minerva," sneered Severus. "Otherwise we would not be here now. How did you do it, Potter?"

"His name is Harry," Susan said angrily. "And I was the one who sent the letter, not him. He can't do magic yet. Believe me, we've tried and tried."

"And you can, I suppose?" It seemed his face had a permanent sneer.

"If you hand me your so called wand I'll be happy to demonstrate."

"I will not."

"Oh, hand it over," said the guy with the turban on his head. "I'm interested to see what she has in mind."

"Then hand yours over, Quirinus."

"No chance."

"Then I don't see why I should-"

The bearded one looked sideways at him.

"Oh, very _well_ Albus. Here, try not to drop it." Severus handed over his wand with great reluctance.

"Drop it? I wouldn't dream of it. Not when I was going to do this, anyway!"

She snapped the wand in half.

Every wizard's face changed to utter astonishment as she set the broken pieces of the wand down on the table in front of her.

"Do you realize what you've done? I'll kill you for that girl!" Quirinus actually seemed to be smirking once the shock wore off, Albus turned and went to physically restrain Severus.

Susan raised a hand. Then she waved it over the wand, and the familiar glowing circle appeared under it. "Repair" she said simply, and the wand flowed back together again. She smiled smugly as Severus reached over for the wand and picked it up.

"Lumos," he said nervously, and the tip of the wand lit up.

"You're lucky that worked, girl."

"My name is Susan," said Susan. "Not girl. And you owe both Harry and myself an apology."

"I believe that's true," said Albus. "Not that I would ever force you, of course."

Severus ignored all of it. "I'll need to run a few more tests. If any of them fail…" he ominously trailed off, then disappeared in a crack of air.

"That was a bit risky," said Minerva, "I don't know what he would have done if you hadn't been able to repair that wand."

"It is curious," said Albus quietly. "Usually if a wand is snapped it can never be repaired. And to do magic without a wand of your own, of that level, is astonishing to me."

"_Repair _is a grade five spell," said Susan, "And I spent max energy, again, to make sure it would repair enough damage. Good thing my ENDurance and RESolve are so high, huh?"

The wizards stared blankly at her.

"Right. Anyway, are you convinced yet?"

"I'm convinced," said Quirinus. "I like her style, and her spirit. I think she would make an excellent addition to the student body. Especially if we want to figure out her, ahem, unique style of magic."

"I agree," said Albus. "What we've witnessed today could be a totally new kind of magic making itself felt in this world. Or it could be something ancient, coming again from the mists of time. Who is to say? None of your ancestors exhibited abilities like this, I take it madam?" he asked Stacy.

She shook her head. "So she was telling the truth all along?" she said quietly.

"If by that you mean your daughter told you she could do magic, and you did not believe her? Yes, it seems she was telling the truth."

"I'm sorry honey," said Stacy.

"It's okay mom. You didn't know."

"But I should have trusted you."

Susan gave a little laugh. "We can argue that another time. I'm just glad it's all out in the open."

"Great. Leave!" shouted Senior. "Magic done in my house! I don't believe this!"

"You!" shouted Susan, stalking over to him. He backed himself up against the wall. "You have both physically and mentally abused Harry for his entire life. But that ends _now. _Oh, it's clear now why you did it- You knew, and you were afraid. Afraid of him, and of the power he will learn to use but which you can only dream of. You've let that-" she pointed to Junior, "push Harry around since he was born. You gave him a cupboard to live in. You didn't show him an ounce of compassion despite the fact _he is family. _That ends. You don't have to like him, but you do have to acknowledge his existence. If I hear that he's been mistreated again, in even the slightest way, you and I are going to have words. And you know that my words have power. Are we clear?"

"I will not be spoken to like that in my own house! Especially not by some… some… witch!" shouted Senior.

Susan's voice quieted to a whisper, and she leaned in close. Senior flinched away. "I know at least four different ways to kill you where you stand. They wouldn't even have time to lift their wands. Think about that."

"You threaten-"

Albus' hand came down on Susan's shoulder. "Now now, let's not be hasty. I'm sure conditions around here will improve now that they are known…"

"And you!" said Susan. Albus' eyebrows went up. "You seem to be the highest ranking wizard around here, how could you let this go on? Just because they didn't use physical torture doesn't make what they did do any less repulsive. Did you just not care?"

Albus sighed a great sigh. "There are many forces at work here, Susan. I had to leave them alone to raise Harry because of who he is. If I had visited or made it known he was here… let's just say being given a cupboard to live in is really the least of his worries."

"Very well," said Susan. She turned back to Senior. "But there will be no more stealing of letters, no more physical abuse by that, none of it. Clear?"

Senior sputtered angrily, but Senior's Wife came to the rescue. "We'll see that he's not mistreated anymore."

"Splendid!" said Albus. "That's settled then. Now, just a few more things to tidy up before we take our leave. Susan, strictly speaking underage Witches are not allowed to do magic anywhere but school until they are of age. But apparently you have been doing so for quite a number of years without triggering the alarms that underage magic is being performed. Then this whole sending of letters into Hogwarts, well, it's obvious this is a very different magic then we're used to. So I will ask you to please, be responsible. I would hate to read that number 4 Pivot Drive burned to the ground two nights from now because someone said a cross word to Harry here. School will start soon and we'll get all this sorted out. I won't ask you to stop doing magic totally, and I know you've been careful around your mother, but please don't let Muggles, that is, people without magical abilities or who don't know about them, see you do magic. Unless it's life or death, of course."

"Yes, I realize the risks," Susan said.

"Of course you do! Now, we'll have someone sent round to take you both to buy your uniforms and things. I don't suppose you'll need a wand, will you? You might want to stop in anyway, just to see what happens. And I suppose our books of magic… well, I'll think about it anyway. Come everyone, we've intruded on this household enough for one day, I should think.

Oh, and Harry, I must apologize. We should have sent someone around directly rather then using the standard letter service. It would have saved a lot of trouble, I think. Still, all is well that ends well, don't you find? And we're off!"

The wizards in the room disappeared, leaving the (mostly) mere mortals alone again.

"I think that's our cue to exit as well. It was nice meeting you both," said Stacy. "If you want to talk things over with me, you know where to find me."

"Come with me, Harry," said Susan, pulling him along. "Let's let your uncle cool down for a while, shall we?"

She put two fingers up to her eyes and swung them out at Senior as she was pulled out of the house, Harry in tow.

"What just happened?" asked Junior as they left.

—

The next day Susan was browsing the web for any information that might have leaked out about Hogwarts and the magical world when the doorbell rang.

_It's never sounded so… surly before, _she thought. _That's weird._

"I'll get it, mom!" she said, springing up out of her chair and running to the door. When she opened it her eyes narrowed.

"Didn't expect to see you again so soon," she said to the unkempt man standing there.

"Nor did I expect to return to this charming suburb, but yet here I stand."

"Come to apologize?"

"I have come," he said through clenched teeth, "To take you to buy your school supplies. Go and get Pot- Harry and be quick about it."

"Okay, just a second." She went to find her mother.

"Mom, one of the professors is here to take me to buy my school stuff."

"Do you need money?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I would have to assume they use the same currency as us, but I'm eleven and I've thought of several ways to create unlimited electricity with magic. Electricity is power. Power is money. So wizards either have a totally different way of doing business, like barter or something, or… I'll go ask."

She peaked her head out the door again. Severus was tapping his foot irritatedly.

"Do I need money?"

"That will not be necessary."

"Thank you."

She ducked back inside again.

"I guess not. Man, this is so exciting!"

"Just be careful honey." Stacy looked out the window. "Oh, it's the angry one. Why did they send him?"

Susan shrugged. "Don't know. But I was being serious when I said I knew four different ways to kill someone, if he does try anything."

Stacy looked shocked. "You weren't kidding about that?"

"No, I wasn't. I only know one actual attack spell, which I learned just in case, but some other spells I know could be used creatively to kill someone if I really, absolutely had to."

"Oh, I see. Well, take Sparkle with you." She paused. "I can't believe I just said to take the _cat_ with you, and it made me feel better about your safety."

(Naturally Susan had reintroduced Sparkle to her mother, and Sparkle had reintroduced herself back. That really blew Stacy's mind. As they both knew different spells, Stacy figured the two of them together could handle themselves.)

Susan ran up and shoved her book of magic, some emergency money (she wasn't stupid), a change of clothes, writing paper, flashlight, and various other odds and ends into her backpack. _If only I had some rope, like fifty feet of it. I don't know why, it just seems right to have tons of rope. _She gave a mental shrug, then opened her _Pocket Dimension_ and shoved the backpack in.

_All set!_

Sparkle, currently shape-shifted into the form of a fairy and riding on Susan's shoulder, looked Severus over. "He feels like Harry," she remarked.

"Can we please get a move on?"

"I'm ready to go."

"Splendid."

She and Severus walked over to Harry house, but Severus stopped just before entering the yard.

_Looks like he doesn't want to go one inch closer to Harry then he has to. What's his deal, anyway?_

Susan ran over and rang the bell, and it was Junior that answered.

"Oh. Uh, you want to see Harry?" he asked, keeping the door open just a crack.

"Yes, please."

"Just wait here, I'll get him."

There was a commotion in the house, and the door was thrown open.

"What's this about?" asked Senior.

"We're going to buy our school supplies."

"Well he's not getting… any… money- uh."

Susan stared at him.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact I have been told we don't need money, so don't worry about it."

"Fine." His already beady eyes narrowed. "Were you the one who fixed all of Dudley's old stuff?"

"That was me."

"I guess magic does have some use then," he said, sounding like he was forcing the words out.

"Okay Harry?" she asked, as he appeared behind Senior.

"Never better. You?"

"The same. Come on, we're heading out."

"Awesome. See you later."

"We'll be… waiting."

The door closed and Harry looked around. "Him? Oh, hi Sparkle, didn't see you there."

"Hi Harry."

"My reaction exactly. Keep an eye on him, he seems to have some kind of grudge against you for some reason."

"Maybe my parents failed his classes or something? No wait, he's about the age my parents would be now, if they were still alive. He must have known them growing up? I'll ask him."

They walked over to where he was.

"Good morning, Professor. Thank you for coming to escort us, I'm sure it's not what you had in mind for today."

Severus looked a bit surprised. "No, it was not. Professor Quirrell volunteered to come, but Albus thought I should, in his words, get to know Harry better."

"You knew my parents, didn't you?"

"All too well. Why?"

Harry and Susan looked at each other. "It's the only reason I can think of that you didn't like me, on sight. You're transferring your dislike of my mother or father unto me, because you can't hate them anymore. Because they're dead, and I'm not."

Severus stared at them a moment. "This is a waste of time." He stuck his wand out, and a double decker bus zoomed into view and halted directly beside them, totally ignoring a little physical law called "inertia".

"Get abroad."

Wide eyed, the two young wizards climbed aboard and found several witches and wizards looking at them. "Diagon Alley," drawled Severus to the ticket taker, sitting down and shooing the others to different seat with a wave of his hand. The bus accelerated back to its top speed in a single action, and the three were off.

Inside the bus was more like a cafe then a normal bus, and all the chatter stopped as the wizards and witches looked the pair over.

"Impossible!" said one.

"Merely improbable," one clarified.

"Merlin's beard," said yet another.

"Harry Potter!" they all shouted, standing up. The clustered around him and grabbed his hand.

"As I live and breathe," said the wizard in the green robes. "It really is you. It's an honor to meet you!"

"Charmed," said the witch, "I shall have a story to tell my grandchildren when I get home."

At this point Severus was making quiet retching noises.

The ticket taker even came over. "Is it really him?"

"Let him sit down first!" Susan said, crossly.

"Do forgive us," said the one in red. "It's not every day you meet someone as famous as Harry Potter. I don't think there has been anyone as famous, actually."

"What are you all talking about?"

The four looked blankly at him.

"You can't seriously say you don't know?" said the witch.

"Pretend for the moment that we don't. How can I possibly be famous?"

They told him.

"It's becoming a bit clearer now, isn't it?" Harry asked Susan.

"It sure is. He didn't like your parents and then they had to go and get murdered by Voldemort. In effect, dying nobly. But then you survived, making him feel guilty about feeling smug about it."

"No, I mean, yes, but I was talking about my foster family."

"Oh them! Yeah, if his followers ever figured out where you were, they would have been in danger. But they would have only looked in the wizard world, given how separate they seem to keep themselves. Why do they do that, I wonder," she said, mostly to herself. "Does technology not work well around magic? Or are they like the Amish?" She had used Google Maps to find Hogwarts, given that she now knew where it was. She had found it, but her mother said all she saw was an empty field.

"It's going to be rough," Harry sighed.

"What, being famous? I can imagine."

"No, being _marked. _You say a lot of his followers didn't get caught, or weaseled out of it? Or that _he himself_ might still be out there, waiting to take revenge?" The wizards and witch nodded. "I'm going to have to live my life always looking over my shoulder. The man I pass on the street could be an old follower and *zap* right in the back. One dead Harry Potter. Because of something that happened to me before I was even old enough to talk."

"You want my advice?" asked Susan.

Harry nodded enthusiastically.

"One, get yourself a powerful magic user or two as a friend. Check." She made a checkmark motion in the air, and Harry smiled. "Two, don't slack off in your classes. In fact, take more classes if they'll let you. Practice all the time. Do extra homework, whatever. You're coming back to the magical world now, and so the magical world is going to notice you again. You're going to have to be ready."

Harry nodded, serious.

"Diagon Alley!" announced the driver as the bus came to a halt again. Severus stood up.

"It was nice meeting you all," Harry said. "Thank you for the story. I'm glad to finally know the truth of the matter."

The others all shook his hand again, and they stepped off the bus, which roared away again. The two looked around in amazement, having basically just stepped back in time a few hundred years. Shops of every description lined the road, and witches and wizards of every shape, color and size milled about under conditions of obviously just near but never spilled over chaos.

"Let's go," said Severus by way of introduction, and stalked off.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Men love shopping… for hardware

Time: 30 seconds later

Place: Diagon Alley

"What's our first stop, Professor?" said Harry, who seemed determined to be nice to this man even if it killed him.

"Bank," Severus said simply, walking past shops full of wonders. Even Sparkle was standing up on Susan's shoulder and looking around interestedly.

"I could spend years here!" Susan breathed. The signs moved, kids darted everywhere, and the things she glimpsed in the windows…

"I hear ya!" said Harry, impressed. He didn't get out much, but even to his inexperienced eyes this seemed excessive. Like someone tried to pack the entire wizarding world into one narrow street. Then they came to the bank. The sign said Gringotts and there huge stone lions guarding the front. _Moving, _huge stone lions, that stared at everyone as they went past. She did a _Magic Sense_ on them, and almost had the top of her head torn off. She staggered a little.

"You okay?" said Harry, steading her.

"Here's a tip, don't use _Magic Sense," _she said to Sparkle. "Because just about everything around here is steeped in wand magic (as they were calling it, to distinguish it from energy magic, the type Susan did). "And thanks, I'm fine."

"Inside," snarled Severus.

The lions took a close look at her (or maybe Sparkle) as she passed, but didn't move from their pedestals. Inside was a second set of doors guarded by some kind of squat humanoid creature with big ears. There were six of them, and they all had shining breastplates on. Each held a sword, point down, that was sized for them exactly. They seemed rather no-nonsense creatures, all in all. Two lined each wall, and two were against the far door.

"Good security," breathed Harry.

"Uh huh," answered Susan.

Severus swept past them all, and the doors opened without apparent effort on the part of the guards.

Inside was a long hallway, straight through, and Susan and Harry had to crane their necks to see above the top of the counters. Even Severus would have to stand on tiptoes to see over the counters. From down the hall they saw each… creature, performing a different activity, from weighing coins to writing up contracts. Severus ignored it all and went straight to the back, where he stood stiffly and waited to be acknowledged.

"Yes?" said the creature after a moment, looking up from his writing.

"Harry Potter's vault. Key." He slapped a key down on the counter, which the creature picked up. He looked from the key to Harry, then back again.

"That seems in order. Anything else?"

"Vault seven hundred and thirteen. My authorization." A piece of paper was produced from somewhere and handed over. The creature spent a long time looking at it.

"Very well," he said crisply. "Griphook!"

From the left part of the high counters a section disappeared, revealing another creature and a passageway leading off to a door. Severus took the key back and walked past the creature towards the door. The others followed.

They were led to an odd contraption that the creature told them to sit down on, and they zoomed off along a track, down into a cave that opened up before them. A waterfall cascaded over them, drenching them for a moment, but which quickly evaporated.

"That was an odd sensation," said Sparkle. "I had to make a RESolve check to hold onto my spell just then."

"What was that?" Susan shouted to the creature.

"Thief's Downfall!" it shouted back over the wind. "Washes away enchantments!"

_Not all of them._

"Not to be rude, but what species are you?"

"I'm a goblin. It's a goblin bank, you know?"

"I'm from the non magical world, so no, actually."

Griphook just nodded.

Without warning the strange vehicle came to a halt, bouncing everyone around. "Harry Potter's vault," said Griphook, stepping out. "Key please." Severus handed it over, and Griphook got the vault open.

All three gasped as the door swung open to reveal…

An empty room.

"Huh," said Harry. "I guess I wasted your time after all, Professor. Sorry about that."

"I was under the impression that Harry had… considerable wealth at his disposal?" said Severus, striding into the vault and looking around.

"This is impossible!" said Griphook, looking around frantically. "Impossible! There was indeed a vast treasure here, though I admit this vault has not been opened in the eleven years since _his _death."

"So I've been robbed?" said Harry, stepping into the vault himself. "And never knew it because it's only now that I've come down to see it. I am disappointed, given all the security I saw upstairs."

"It must have been done over the course of weeks. No one person could have carried all the money out of this vault in one go. It's just not possible."

Griphook seemed at a loss, and Susan stepped into the vault herself. Just on a hunch she did a _Magic Sense, _assisted by Sparkle.

"Professor, I think there's some sort of enchantment on the walls."

He looked at her for a moment, then grumbled something. He took out his wand.

"Finite Incantatem!"

Slowly, words began appearing on the sides of the vault's walls.

_You may have broken our lord, but now we have broken you, Harry Potter. _

_ Know that this is only the beginning of our vengeance._

_ The words seem to have been burned into the walls of the vault, _thought Susan, _then made invisible. With the spell of invisibility lifted, the words appear. Clever._

"I guess we have our answer," said Harry. "The next question is, what is the goblin bank going to do about this theft?"

"We will begin an investigation at once, of course! The reputation of our bank is on the line."

"You really think that's going to be good enough?" asked Susan. "Harry needs to buy school things right now. He has absolutely no money. What do you think you should do about that?"

"I'm sure a small loan could be arranged…" said Griphook hopefully.

"At zero interest, payable only when the bank finds and recovers every part of the missing fortune."

"Yes, I'm sure something-" His eyes widened. "We need to check the other vault."

"Indeed," said Severus, climbing aboard the vehicle again. "Given how long this theft went unnoticed, I am hoping, for your sake, that the contents of vault seven hundred and thirteen are intact."

"I'm sure they are. Positive. Yes, you'll see. The bank does apologize, Mr Potter. We will do our best to find those responsible."

"Thank you."

Up to speed again on the cart, Susan shouted to Harry. "Sorry about your vault."

"I didn't know I had any money anywhere, so really this doesn't change much."

"Still, being rich would have been nice."

"You can say that again!"

"Being rich would have been nice," she shouted louder.

"I heard- Very funny!"

"Thanks!"

Again the squealing and violent breaking, and Griphook positively leapt from the cart and started undoing complex locks on the vault door. It opened, and everyone looked inside. Susan thought it too was empty, but no, it looked like a small something wrapped in paper was sitting just inside.

"You see? Safe and sound," said Griphook, seeming relieved.

"We'll see," said Snape, picking it up. He walked to the back of the vault, barking "Stay there," to Susan and Harry. He unwrapped it slightly and took something out of a pouch, touching it to the thing. He was obviously satisfied, as he wrapped it up again. "It's not a fake. Let's go."

Back at the upper level, Griphook tried to get away, but Susan grabbed him.

"I think you better see to the _loan _first, then report the theft. After all, it's been this long, it can wait a few minutes longer."

"Yes, very well. This way."

Griphook led them down another passageway to where a goblin was working in what looked almost like a modern office. Just without modern office equipment- there were still shelves full of paper and books, filing cabinets, and a properly sized desk against a window. The two had a hushed conversation, and the other goblin got a more haunted look as the conversation continued.

"Come in Mr Potter, come in. Steeltoe the goblin, at your service. Griphook here has told me about the grievous breach of our security, which I assure you the bank will get to the bottom of. Meanwhile, you need to buy supplies and such," he went over to a corner of the room where he tapped on the wall "And we can accommodate you."

The stone seemed to flow away and a rather modern looking safe slid out, which he put his hand on. The dial started spinning back and forth on its own, and the door popped open. He reached inside and pulled out a cloth bag that jingled.

"Would two hundred Galleons be enough, do you think?"

Harry looked over at Severus, who rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Excellent, most excellent," said Steeltoe, handing the bag over. "I won't even make you sign for them. Consider it a gift in good faith that your money will be returned. Though I would certainly appreciate it if you, ah, didn't mention our little lapse to anyone?"

"I'll consider it."

"Ah, yes, well, we could hardly ask for more. It's just, being who you are and all, uh. Our records show this young lady does not have a vault, perhaps another 200 for her as a starting member?"

"You want me to put my money in a bank I know that has just been robbed?"

"But that's just what I mean! Our record thus far has been quite good. To spoil it now… perhaps 300? As a show of good faith? I'll even wave the opening fee and the yearly fee for the next… shall we say ten years?"

"Very well. But I'll take 50 with me right now."

"Of course, of course. I'll draw up the paperwork and get you a key right away!" He went over to a shelf and started pulling papers off. Harry of course was busy hefting his sack of coins.

_Haven't they heard of paper money?_

Moments later Susan signed her name to a modified contract and put her key into her pocket dimension, which both goblins and Severus jumped at.

"My 50?"

"Of course!" Steeltoe rummaged around the safe some more and came out with a smaller bag for her. She opened it and peered inside. They seemed to be… gold.

"Huh," she said, taking one out. She hefted it. "These are gold, aren't they?"

"Goblin made! Only the purest gold, mixed with a bit of silver because gold is so soft, goes into making our coins."

Susan knew gold was expensive, but how expensive, she wasn't sure.

"If I had some non-magical currency I wanted changed into this magical currency, would the goblin bank handle that, as well?"

"Yes, we provide those sorts of services, for a small fee. I believe the going rate is about $100 per Galleon. Susan worked hard to contain the excitement in her voice. "Very well. I may be making some transactions here in the future in that case. My allowance, of course, won't spend in the magical world if this is what you use for money. But if I can convert it…"

"Not a problem. Anything we can do for the friend of Harry Potter!"

"Find his treasure."

"We fully intend to."

"Then I think we're done here. Shall we go, Professor?"

"Finally."

Susan resisted the urge to skip away from the bank for almost fifteen seconds. Then she started skipping and laughing.

"Restrain yourself," intoned Severus.

"You get it, don't you," she asked Harry.

"Something about gold, I'm guessing?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm confident just one of these little coins has at least a thousand dollars worth of gold of it. I remember reading it was some bizarre amount per ounce, anyway. And an ounce isn't that much when you're talking a heavy metal like this!"

"What are you blathering about?" asked Severus.

"I send this coin to a place that scraps gold. They don't even look at it, they just melt it down and weigh it. They send me, to use round numbers, a thousand dollars. I take that thousand dollars and go into the bank, which helpfully gives me 10 Galleons for it, a net gain of 9. I spend nine of them, then send the tenth one to the gold scrapper. I get back a thousand dollars, and the cycle repeats."

"Gold is worth that much in the muggle world?"

"I am not liking that word, muggle. Anyway, I always wondered why, but now I know. All you wizards snapped it all up so you could leave piles of it hanging around vaults. So no wonder the stuff is so rare outside. And they seem to not realize it, because the percentage is so low. Obviously I wouldn't do hundreds of them at a time, someone would get suspicious. But it perfectly explains my _Resources: Money _background, which I had never been able to access before. It all fits!"

"Sometimes you say the most bizarre things," said Harry. "But it does sound like it would work."

Severus had a bit more of a gleam in his eye as he pointed down the street.

"Robes, books, sundries, wands. I'll be over there when you're done, come find me." He pointed to what looked like a bar, then stalked off.

"You would think handing him wealth would perk him up a little," remarked Harry. "Where do we go first?"

They looked at each other. "Wand!" They both smiled, grabbed hands, and ran towards the wand shop.

The shop was packed, floor to ceiling, with boxes, upon which measurements and such were written. It almost seemed they could all pitch over at any moment, but judging by the dust on some of the lower boxes, the stacks had stood the test of time.

"Hello?" said a voice, and a kind looking face stuck out from behind a stack. "Ah, more customers! Busy time of year, just before school begins. Yes, busy indeed- Oh my." His eyes darted to Harry's forehead. "Harry Potter. Of course. How the time does fly. Why it seems like only yesterday your parents were here to find their wands. What wand will choose you today, I wonder? I must admit, I've thought about it a time or two, and I have my suspicions. And who is your friend?"

"This is Susan. She doesn't need a wand, strictly speaking. But we thought it might be interesting to see what happened if she came here."

"Not need a wand! Nonsense my boy! Every Witch needs a wand! Unless, perhaps, you have purchased a wand from one of my compatriots in the wand making business?"

"I'm a wizard, not a witch," said Susan. "I suppose technically you would call me a _Natural Magician." _

"Yes, I'm sure you'll be a natural," said the man, obviously not listening. He pulled a wand out from the stack. "Try this one!"

He handed it to Harry, but it was immediately snatched away again. He set it down on the counter and went to get another, and while he did, Susan picked it up.

"What do you make of it?" she asked Sparkle, doing a _Magic Sense._

The fairy shrugged. "I don't see the appeal. It feels just like a stick of wood to me."

"Same here. Weird." She set it down again. By this time the man had tried several wands and was looking Harry over. "Yes, I think it's time to try _that one_," he said. He turned and went into the stacks, looking for one in particular.

"What do you think?" Harry asked, as Susan was holding two wands in her hand and hefting them carefully.

"I think your type of magic needs some kind of focus to work properly. You heard what he said, he's never considered a wizard that might not need a wand. The wand itself is not magical, at least not in the sense that you are. I think there's something magical inside it, but what that means-"

"Here we are," said the man, returning. "Yes, wondered when I would sell this wand." He carefully took it out of the box. "See what you make of this, Mr Potter."

As Harry took the wand a ribbon of light traveled from the tip, down his arm, and across his whole body. Susan had to admit that the wand did look, well, right, in his hand. Odd.

"I thought as much," said the man, whisking it back into the box and stepping behind the counter. He put the wand reverently in a small bag and rang up a 7 on his old fashioned register.

"Does it mean something?" Harry asked, fishing into his sack to grab the needed coins.

"Who can say," said the man. "But I will tell you one thing. The core of your wand is quite similar to his. So similar, I would say, as to be almost the same. After all, the phoenix that donated the feather that's in the center of that wand lost a second feather which I used. I think you know who I'm talking about when I say the twin to your wand came to his hand the day he stood in my shop."

"Voldemort."

He nodded gravely. "I will be quite interested to see what path your career takes Harry, yes, quite interested indeed."

The man handed him a receipt.

"And now for your friend!"

"Honest, I don't need one."

"No need to be shy," he said, going into the back again. "I'm sure I have a wand that will suit you!"

They slipped out.

Susan was quite interested in the books Harry bought, and bought her own copies as well, sticking them into her pocket dimension. As she figured this would be her only chance for awhile to browse, she also picked up a few tattered copies of books that looked interesting. As worn as they were, she could by a dozen for a single Galleon, and besides, she only needed one left at the end of this little shopping trip. She picked up "Hogwarts: A History" and anything having to do with what great wizards had done in the past. If it turned out some complex spell for wand users was easy for her, she would want to learn it quick. Her pocket dimension spell got her some strange looks after she paid for them all and shoved the bag in, but then people just shook their heads and went back to browsing. She barked a laugh.

"Even in the magical world, if people see something they can't explain they just shake it off. Wild."

"I guess you're right."

She looked at Harry's copy of "Magical Theory" and sighed. "I hope you don't have to unlearn too much. It seems like our methods of doing magic are so different, I'm not sure now that anything will transfer over."

"We'll see."

Lastly was "robes", which confused both of them. "Why can't we just wear regular clothes? It's almost like they're going out of their way to separate magical and non-magical people." asked Harry.

"I'm not sure, but I refuse to wear a pointy, black hat!"

Entering "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions" they saw who must be Madam Malkin bustling around the shop, making adjustments to her assistant's measurements.

"Two more?" she asked. "Fine, just fine. There's room in the back dears, someone will be with you shortly."

They headed to the back, where a rather nervous looking boy was being fitted.

"You think they would have a spell to resize robes," Harry remarked. "They all seemed to be doing the work by hand. Odd, that."

"There's a lot of things we don't understand yet, I guess," Susan answered. "Hello! How are you?"

"Fine," said the boy. "You?"

"My head is about stuffed full of all it can take at the moment," Susan answered, "And for me and my 7 KNOwledge, that's saying something."

The boy gave her a blank look. "Anyway, I'm Susan, and three guesses who this is."

"I'm Neville, nice to- You're Harry Potter!"

"One of these days you'll meet someone who doesn't know your name right off, and the Earth will stop spinning."

"Gran!" shouted Neville, "Come and see, it's Harry Potter!"

"No need to shout," said a stern looking witch who walked into the back. "Even if it- it really is, isn't it?"

"See, I told you."

"It's nice to meet you, Harry," said Neville's grandmother. "And I know you probably feel you don't deserve it, but thank you, from our family to yours. The war was terrible for a lot of families but yours and ours suffered particularly, I think."

"Gran!"

"I'll say no more, don't worry. But confidentially-" she pulled Harry over to the side and lowered her voice. "My grandson is a bit… timid. I know it's horrible of me to ask a favor of you after we've just met, but if you could see fit to sort of, I don't know, take him under your wing, so to speak? Toughen him up a little bit, that sort of thing? It would mean the world to me, honestly."

"I'll do my best," said Harry, a bit put out.

"You have no idea how relieved that makes me. Well, I won't take up any more of your time. It was nice to meet you both. Goodbye!"

_She seems like a woman with high RESolve. A very forceful PERsonality, too. _

The witch taking measurements was done, and Neville and his Grandmother slunk, and swept, respectively, out of the room. "See you at school!" said Neville over his shoulder, which caused him to almost trip himself. His grandmother _tut tutted_ which Susan didn't even think was possible.

"He seemed nice," said Harry, climbing up on the stool to be measured next.

"He was with this grandmother, not his parents. I wonder if they got killed during the war?"

"Maybe. You know, I kind of hope Voldemort does come back, so I can take him out a second time. Properly this time, you know?"

The witch making measurements gave a little squeak and fell over backwards, passed out.

"Whoops?"


	4. Chapter 4

4

Meet the rest of the party

Time: The 36 days between the shopping trip and the departure

Place: Privet Drive

The last month before school was a curious one for both kids. With Harry now off limits to Junior and his guardians, life got a little smoother for him. After Susan finished her copy of the books she loaned them to Harry (and vice versa) and he leafed through them, picking up a little more history that kids raised by wizards would have just picked up naturally. The temptation to get his wand out was strong, but he knew that was probably a Bad Idea, so he contented himself with sticks out in the yard. He practiced the wand motions and intonation of spells as shown in his books endlessly, much to the embarrassment of the Dursley's. But Susan was never far away, and if she caught Senior staring out the door or window at him, she had but to glare and he went away.

Both were surprised about the difference in potion making they discovered. It seemed _Imbuing _was quite different then potion making, for a variety of reasons. But for once, wand magic seemed to have won out.

"It doesn't say anything in here about the XP costs for potions!" said Susan, throwing the _Magical Drafts and Potions_ to the ground. "I don't think it costs you XP at all!"

"I still don't know what XP actually is," said Harry.

"When I make a magical item it costs me some of my potential. Like I could learn a spell, or bind a spell into an object, but not both. It seems you could brew potions all day long and still learn a spell or whatever at the end of the day!"

"Ah, but I can only make potions," countered Harry. "You could make me a pair of shoes with the fly spell on it."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You can't be better in every way, you know."

She laughed. "I guess you're right, I shouldn't complain. After all, I could do magic right now, and they would never know."

The first of the month Susan used _Teleport_ from writings to head back to the bank and make her "deposit" of nine Galleons, which went smoothly. Having gotten a bit more then she expected for the gold she saved some as "normal" money and gave some to her mother. When asked where it came from, she just replied "Magic" with a laugh, and her mother just shook her head. She took the money though. Susan debated memorizing _Teleport_ but it was a grade 8 spell, and she wanted to save her XP for school, just in case. She had earned a little in her adventures thus far, but not a lot, and if she decided she needed to learn something for a class, or _Imbue_ something at the last minute, she better be able to do it!

They were half in and half out of the magical world, and both for once looking forward to school. Then, two days before they were scheduled to leave, Susan received an owl bearing a letter.

_Dear Miss Felton,_

_ I hope that you are enjoying your last days of summer and are looking forward to attending Hogwarts. The staff here have been pouring through books on magical theory and history to see if anyone like you has ever been found before. _

_ They have not, as far as we can determine. However, we must admit we don't know exactly how your magic works, so we have only looked for people who have primarily done wandless magic, and as expected there are none._

_ As such, we would request that you, for the moment, pretend that your magic is no different from your classmates. When you arrive at Hogwarts, go through the sorting ceremony as normal (which we hope works on you) and after dinner, find your way to the corridor marked on the map. You will find a statue of a phoenix which hides the office of Headmaster Dumbledore. Speak the words "Lemon Sour" (don't ask) and you will be able to enter. _

_ At that time, the Headmaster requests (if you can) that you explain exactly how your magic works, and demonstrate what spells you know. If your magic is close enough to ours to fool the other students, we suggest you do so. It could be a tremendous advantage to take a wizard who thinks you are helpless without a wand by surprise, as I'm sure you can guess. If it is not, some other arrangement will have to be made. _

_ We hope we can count on your cooperation in this matter._

_ Minerva McGonagall,_

_ Deputy Headmistress_

"Shoot, I don't have a wand!" exclaimed Susan, after reading the letter.

"You could just go get one quick, you've been back there before, right?" asked Harry. "I don't know, the guy in the wand shop seemed to think the wand choose the wizard," said Sparkle. "And we all saw what happened to you when you touched yours."

"Could you prepare some sort of illusion?"

"Two problems. We don't know if it's the same for every person, so if I did the same and it's different-"

"He'll know something's up right away. But if you did something different and it's the same- Got it. What's the other?"

"If wands really do choose their owners, I'll be taking some other poor person's wand. They'll go through the whole shop looking for it, but it'll be gone!"

"Oh. So what are you going to do?"

"Magic, of course!"

Harry groaned.

"There's a spell that'll make an object out of nothing. I'll just make my own, I saw some examples in the shop, I can fake one up."

So she did.

4.2

Meet the rest of the party

Time: Departure Day

Place: Outside platform 9.75

"I'm stumped. Didn't think actually finding a train would be this hard," said Susan, scratching her head. "I mean, my _Magic Sense_ shows there's something around here, but I can't figure out what."

The four, that would be Harry, Susan, Sparkle and Susan's mother, Stacy (who had driven them) stood between platform nine and ten.

"I had hoped it would be like the castle," said Harry. "That magic users could see it, but other people couldn't it."

"Yeah, no such luck."

"Still, we have twenty minutes, no need to panic."

"I'm not panicked. Anyway, some other new student is bound to come along any minute, right? Just look for someone with a lot of luggage and an 'owl, cat or toad.' Honestly, a toad? I can see an owl or a cat being useful, there may be mice in the castle-"

"That would be nice!" said Sparkle.

"But a toad?"

Harry shrugged. Naturally, all of their luggage was safely stored, out of the way, in Susan's _Pocket Dimension. _On reflection, thought Suzan, that had perhaps been a bad idea. She had a cat, but no luggage, so no wizard would recognize them as being first year students and point them in the right direction.

"It will be quite embarrassing if we are all still stuck here when the train leaves," said Sparkle.

"Worst comes to worst, I can just send a letter to the school again. I'm sure I could find someplace pri- Wait a minute."

"What?"

"I think we have a winner!"

"What?"

"Owl."

"Ah! Vundabar!"

Coming down the platforms was a slightly obese woman trying to corral four boys and holding a younger girl by the hand. All of them had red hair, and two were twins. She sent a boy named Percy through first, and the two watched in amazement as, instead of smashing into the wall and killing himself, he seemed to disappear.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," remarked Harry.

Susan, however, was looking around. "Actually, it might be. Look around, no one is shouting that some boy just got vaporized. There goes one of the twins." Fred (or George) sailed through followed by George (or Fred). "See, no reaction at all. Weird."

The woman was looking back at them now, and looked down at Sparkle.

"You wouldn't be trying to get on the platform, now would you?" she asked kindly.

"Actually, we are, now that you mention it. It's our first time…"

"And of course that wasn't put into your letter either. That's Dumbledore for you. Well there's nothing to it. You just walk straight at the barrier and- where's your luggage? You don't have much time you know."

_Shoot, _thought Susan. _They probably won't have a Pocket Dimension spell, how are we going to get our stuff out later?_

"It's, uh, taken care of," said Harry, a bit lamely.

_Probably he realizes it too._

"Well, if you say so. As I was saying, right at the wall and you'll find yourself on the platform. Go ahead dears, head on through. Ron is just starting this year too, he'll be right behind you."

"Thank you very much," said Harry.

"Yes, thanks," said Susan.

"Shall we?" asked Harry, motioning Susan to go first.

"Indeed," replied Susan, mirroring the motion.

"Honestly, you two," said Sparkle, and ran through the barrier. The two followed suit.

"Did that cat just-" They didn't hear the rest of the sentence because they all found themselves in front of an antique _steam engine_ that seemed in pristine condition. Kids were running everywhere, and many eyes had tears.

"I don't think you should talk for awhile," Harry said to Sparkle. "At least until we learn if cats in the magical world can talk."

Sparkle nodded, then started washing her face.

"Well, let's not stand here and clog up the entrance, shall we? Wonder if we teleported or they just folded space there or something?"

"Good question."

As they moved forward, Ron came through after them.

"Wicked," he said, spying the train.

"I guess if you're into 19th century technology," Susan said. "Better find a seat, train leaves in just a few minutes. You want some help with your stuff?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Thanks!" said Ron.

"No problem!" said Susan, grabbing a suitcase. "Many hands equals light work and all."

"Hey Nevillee," said Harry, passing him and his grandmother on their way to board the train.

"Harry! You made it! Keep a lookout for my toad, would you? I've lost it."

"Sure thing Nevillee," he replied. Sparkle started sniffing around. "I'll be along in a moment," she whispered.

The three found an empty booth near the back of the train and loaded Ron's luggage into it, then sat down themselves.

"I'm Ron, thanks for the help."

"Susan," said Susan.

"Harry," said Harry.

"Potter?" asked Ron.

"Wait, you're Harry Potter?" asked Susan, with mock amazement. Harry glared at her. "What, everyone else gets to say it."

"You two know each other?"

"We were neighbors."

"Blimy."

"Have you really got…" Harry lifted his bangs. "I guess you do. Sorry about your parents."

"Thanks."

"Tell us about the wizard world!" said Susan as Sparkle to the door.

"Yeah, your whole family is wizards, right? We've both been reading about it, but honestly we have no clue what to expect. I mean, we're going to school in a castle, for pete's sake."

So Ron explained a bit about how wizards lived, and the time on the train flew by until lunch. A kindly looking woman pushing cart full of food went passed and knocked on their door.

"Anything off the cart then?" she asked.

Ron mumbled something about sandwiches, and pulled a paper wrapped bundle out from one of his bags.

"We have food," started Susan, looking at Harry.

"In our luggage," said Harry.

"Which is not exactly accessible right now,"

"Because we haven't learned to think things through."

"Of course we have lots of spare money,"

"In the luggage."

They both paused.

"Thanks, nothing for us."

The lady nodded and moved on.

"You want a sandwich," asked Ron. "They're corned beef, which I'm not exactly fond of. There's seven of us at home, currently, and she always forgets."

They both stared at him.

"You would share with us?" asked Harry.

"People can be kind," said Susan.

Harry thought for a moment. "I say we trust him."

They gazed at him for a moment. "You think?"

"You could always kill him later."

"What?" squeaked Ron.

They both laughed. "See, Susan here knows a spell, not your typical spell, mind you."

"Yeah?" They had Ron's attention.

"Basically she can stick stuff into this weird, other space, and then call it out later. That's where our luggage is."

"Oh, that's how they make those trunks that are bigger on the inside, right?"

"You know it then? Well, that's a relief. We weren't supposed to show it off, but you're okay, right Ron?"

"I won't tell anyone!"

"Okay, here goes then," said Susan. She began to cast the spell, then froze.

_Crap, I forgot I have to pretend I'm a wanded wizard now._

Luckily, her wand was close at hand, as she was trying to get used to carrying it everywhere (which was a huge pain, let me tell you).

She pulled it out, and Harry gave a small sigh of relief. She started again, and twirled the wand around, where a glowing circle appeared. "Pocket Dimension, retrieval, lunchbag" she said, and from Ron's point of view, reached into nothing and pulled out a sack with food in it. Ron's eyes got wide.

"That was amazing! How did you ever practice it? Didn't you say you had been raised by Muggles?"

"Her story is a little more complex that most," explained Harry, as Susan got out their lunch. "That's why Dumbledore didn't want it spread around. I hope we can count on your silence?"

"Yeah, sure. But you must be bloody brilliant to do magic like that!"

They were interrupted by Neville, who slid their door open.

"Nice to see you again, Neville!" said Harry. "This is Ron. Ron, Neville. Did you find your toad?"

"Actually, that cat brought it back to me, but he's somehow escaped again, so I wondered if I could borrow him again?"

"Her," corrected Susan. "Borrow her. Feel up to it, Sparkle?"

Sparkle arched her back and stretched, then sat down by Neville and looked up at him.

"I think that means yes."

"Thank you so much!"

"Hey, thank her."

"Thank you," he said down at his feet. "I'll show you where we were, maybe you can sniff him out from there?"

Sparkle got up and walked back the way he came, and Neville trailed after him.

"He seems a bit hopeless," said Susan sadly.

"Yeah, I can see why his grandmother wants me to 'take him under my wing'."

"Anyway, you were saying about how brilliant I was?"

Ron laughed. "Yeah, you must be. Fred and George told me a spell to turn my rat yellow, but it's never worked."

"You have a rat?"

"Yeah, his name is Scabbers. He's a useless lump, mostly just sleeps." He pulled a sleeping rat from his jacket pocket. "See what I mean? Oh, I should put him away before your cat comes back."

"Don't worry, we're all friends here. And Sparkle isn't one to eat a friend."

"She did seem awfully smart. Almost like she understood what that Neville kid was saying."

They both smirked. "Yeah, how about that?"

"Anyway," said Harry, trying to change the subject, "Let's see this spell to turn your rat yellow."

"Wait, are we considered at school yet?" asked Susan. "I mean, I have my, uh, special dispensation about doing magic, but you don't. You're underage, won't you get in trouble?"

They were once again interrupted, this time by a girl with incredibly frizzy hair. "Have you by any chance seen a toad? A boy called Neville has lost one."

"Actually, I just sent my cat out to search for him. She found him once before, so it should be okay."

However, the girl's eyes were on the wand. "You aren't doing magic, are you?"

_Crap, once I had it in my hand I forgot to put it away again. Stupid wand, _She glared at it, _I already hate you!_

_ "_Actually, you just missed it. But Ron here was going to do some. We were just discussing if we would get in trouble though, being underage and all that."

"Well," said the girl, "I've tried some simple spells from the books and they've all worked for me. I'm not in trouble that I know of."

"Are your parents wizards, then?"

"Dentists, actually."

The three stared at her. "Really?" asked Susan. "Being a magic user can occur spontaneously?" Susan looked at Harry. He looked back. "I don't know about that. What I do know is that he was quite adamant that magic not be performed outside of school," Harry replied.

"Something about some sort of alarm for those that tried."

"Could I have been doing magic all along?"

"What are you talking about?" asked the girl. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Ron Weasley."

"Susan Felton."

"The Earth- is it okay?" Harry rushed to look out the window.

Ron looked confused, but Susan just snorted. "Private joke."

"Should I know…" Hermione said, then stared at the scar. "Oh, you're Harry Potter, of course."

"Whew, that was a close one." Harry wiped his brow dramatically. "But- your parents- how did you know?"

"You're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts._"

"Oh, those. Yeah, I remember now. As I recall I screamed and threw the book across the room when I read 'Harry'. I knew what was coming, you see."

"I've never met someone who's in books before."

"Yes, well, how about that spell, Ron?"

"Sure, I'll give it a try." Ron got out his wand.

"Pudding, Catsup, now I bellow,

I command this rat be yel/low!"

Nothing happened.

"I'm not sure that is a spell," remarked Hermione. "Mostly they're some sort of quasi latin phrase with a precise wand movement."

Ron stared at her, but Harry and Susan got excited.

"I think she's right!" said Harry.

"Do you have your schoolbooks handy?" asked Susan.

"I think they're in that bag. Help yourselves."

Harry and Susan looked at each other, then tore the book out of the bag and started paging through it.

"She's right, she's totally right," remarked Susan. "Every spell in here is just a couple of words that are mostly gibberish, and directions for how to move your wand. You actually picked up on that? Hermione, you must be really smart!"

"Oh, well, uh. Maybe Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad, now that I think about. Anyway, I better get going. You should change, I think we're almost there. See you later!"

She slid the door closed and left, but Harry hardly noticed.

"Oh, a quasi-latin phrase with a precise wand movement," Ron intoned. "La de da!"

"Really, Ron? That's how you're going to choose to react to her revelation?" asked Harry. "I've been pouring over these books for a month, and I didn't catch it. Probably because the only magic I've seen- Ahem. Anyway, we know where to go when we need homework help, right?."

"Back up, what magic you've seen?"

"Never you mind."

"If you say so mate. What house are you hoping for, anyway?"

"Well, I don't plan on taking over the world, so not Slytherin. I'm nowhere near as smart as that girl must be, so probably not Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff is just sort of where the general people end up, so probably Gryffindor. You?"

"All my family's been in Gryffindor, so I probably will too."

"Ravenclaw for me," said Susan. "Thanks." she indicated the book, then started to put it back. "Hey, wizard news!"

"What's that?" asked Harry.

"Oh, just an old paper from a week or two ago. I keep some around for Scabbers to do his, uh, business in."

"Harry, take a look at this!" She pulled the paper out. "They're actually publicizing that, wait, no, this is something else!"

"What? Oh, you mean Gringotts being broken into? Yeah, real head scratcher there. Apparently someone broke into an empty vault! How mad is that?"

"An empty vault number seven hundred and thirteen," said Susan carefully.

Harry nodded. "I wonder if it was _them? _A little coincidental, don't you think? That being broken into just days after I visit it?"

"Not everything's about you, mate."

"No, no, you're right. But when I say _visit _I don't mean 'I went to the same bank days before' I mean 'I went to that exact vault days before."

Ron started to say something when the door whisked open again and a pale boy leaned in against the doorframe.

"Well, well. It's true then. Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts."

"Wait, you're Harry Potter?" Harry said to Ron, pretending to be shocked.

Susan started howling with laughter and holding her sides. "That was *heave* fantastic!"

The boy looked around the cabin like they had gone mad. "What's wrong with her?"

"Oh, she's just easily amused. Pay her no mind. Who said Harry Potter was here, anyway?"

"Whole train's been buzzing about it. I guess some kid named Neville has been spreading around that Harry Potter said hello to him at the station. You really said hello to a _Longbottom?"_

_ "_Is that is last name? It fits him, I suppose. We got fitted for our robes together by accident. Why shouldn't I say hello to him?"

"For the same reason you shouldn't be sitting here with him." He pointed to Ron. "Obviously this is a Weasley. Some families are just better then others, Potter, something you should learn quickly before you make enemies."

"I'm afraid I already have enemies," said Harry softly. "Any followers of Voldemort that are still alive, who may come looking for a little revenge for their fallen master."

"Exactly- but it doesn't have to be that way. You were just a kid. There's talk in… certain circles, shall we say, that the reason you lived that night is because your magic was just stronger then his. That one day you'll take his place, and become greater then he ever was."

"I've read the stories about what he did. I wouldn't count on it."

The boy regarded him a moment, then looked at Ron and Susan. "If this is the company you keep, I suppose not. Still, my offer stands. My family can offer you wealth, power, and influence. The Weasley's can offer you… what can they offer, actually?"

Ron stood up. "Leave. Right now."

Two larger boys flowed behind the pale one, seemingly from out of nowhere. "Trouble, boss?" asked one.

Ron swallowed.

"No trouble, Crabbe. Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. Just remember the name Draco Malfoy when you need a favor. My family has resources, should you need it."

He left, and moments later Sparkle came back.

"Think we got any clues as to your little money problem?" asked Susan when he was gone.

"He did keep mentioning it, didn't he? It's a good bet, I'm afraid. Try to get me owing them something, that means holding power over Harry Potter? Oh, I'm sure anyone with ties to Voldemort would just love that."

"Being around you is going to be very stressful, isn't it?" asked Ron, sinking back down into his chair.

"I was impressed, actually," said Susan. "You stood up to him, just like a Gryffindor should."

"You think? Well, thanks."

Suddenly a voice rang through the train. "Hogwarts stop, five minutes. Five minute warning, Hogwarts stop. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be brought into the school."

"We better put on our robes and get our luggage out," said Susan.

"Yeah, it would look pretty suspicious if we didn't have any at this point."

So as the train pulled into Hogwarts station, Ron's mind was blown again as Susan hauled a ton of luggage out of her _Pocket Dimension_. She had to use energy to get that much weight out, but she had it to burn.

_It's not like I'm going to be attacked by something right off the train, right?_


	5. Chapter 5

5

The Sorting

Time: Moments later

Place: Stepping off the train

Getting off the train, Susan, Ron and Harry were as stunned as the other first years as a giant of a man, his face mostly hidden by hair, was walking about.

"First years? Those that don't know the way? By me please! All first years, gather round me please!"

"Did that guy get hit with some kind of growing curse when he was younger?" whispered Ron.

"Something happened to him. Can't see him walking around normal society."

He gathered the awed first years together and pointed down a rocky path, looking almost as though he was looking for someone.

"All right everyone, down to the lake, and we'll enter the castle from there. Step lively now, right this way."

The giant led them down to the water, where many boats bobbed and sloshed in the moonlight. Across the water, the enormous castle of Hogwarts rose up from the land like a sentinel, torch fires flickering in every window.

Harry smiled, at long last he felt he had finally come home.

As everyone boarded a boat, "Four to a boat, plenty for everyone, don't be shy," the giant peered into the face of everyone that went past. His eyes lit up when he saw Harry and Susan.

"Just one moment you two, I'd like a word, if that's okay."

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Fine with us."

"Great, just great. Let me get everyone else in their boat… No pushing, they won't start without ye!"

Ron of course waited, and Neville, wanting to prove he actually did know Harry Potter, hovered nearby. With everyone else in the water, the giant pulled Susan back up the path a bit.

"Name's Rubeus Hagrid, I'm the groundskeeper around here. You are Susan, aren't you?" he whispered in a gravely tone.

"I am, what can I do for you?"

"I heard a rumor that you can fix wands?"

Susan smiled. "Do you need one repaired? I can probably accommodate you, but you won't be able to tell anyone about it. My magic… well, Dumbledore and I are going to talk tonight about it."

"I'd prefer to keep it on the down low anyway, if you take my meaning."

"Then I shall find you before the weekend is out. I'm sure someone can direct me to where I can find you in the next few days?"

"You really can do it? Severus was stalking about here for days muttering about the insane girl who broke his wand, but I never dreamed!"

She took one of his hands in hers. "You will have your wand back, I promise."

_Odd that it's only one to a customer. Though I suppose if the wand chooses the wizard-_

"Oh, thank you!" he said, sweeping her up into a hug and interrupting her thought.

"Eep!" He set her down gently.

"Sorry bout that, got a little carried away there. Not usually so excitable, me. Right, off you go then. Wait, is that Harry Potter with you?"

"Yes, we're neighbors."

"Imagine that! Have him come along, I knew his parents you know, great people, the Potters. I wouldn't mind seeing him again, now he's all grown up."

"I'm sure he won't mind."

"Best be off with you. Enjoy the feast!"

"Thanks."

"And welcome to Hogwarts."

Susan rejoined the group and carefully got on the last boat, which magically propelled itself forward.

"What was that all about?" asked Ron.

"A good deed, I think. Anyway, Harry and I need to go visit him once we get settled in. He knew your parents, Harry."

"That huge guy? Wow, yeah, I'd love to talk to him."

"That's settled then."

As their boat came to stop, Susan saw that Professor McGonagall was standing at the top of the stairs leading up to the castle entrance.

"All here then," she asked crisply. "Excellent."

Sparkle ran back, then hopped out of the boat again with a toad in her mouth, which she nuzzled up against Neville.

"Oh, thanks!" he whispered to her. Sparkle just shook her head, causing Neville to look quizzically at her.

The professor was about to lead them into the hall in the normal way, currently giving her spiel about the four houses. Harry, Susan, and Hermione, of course, knew all that from _Hogwarts: A History_. Sparkle had no interest and was looking around, and thanks to her high LUCk, happened to be glancing up at one of the windows.

"What the… _Deflection!" _she shouted, as a green bolt of light stabbed down towards the first years. The circle of magic caught the beam and deflected it harmlessly away, but the flash lit up the whole area.

"My word!" shouted Minerva, her wand appearing in her hand from somewhere. "That was a killing curse! Children, inside immediately!"

As she said those words there was chaos, as everyone tried to crowd into the castle all at once. Those that were close enough were remarking: "Did that cat just talk, and cast a spell?" Those that knew what a killing curse was, Neville included, were freaking out. Harry and Ron, destined for Gryffindor house, stepped in front of Susan from where they thought the light had come from until the way was clear.

"Quickly now, step lively, don't panic," Minevra was saying, eyes scanning the castle walls. "Susan dear, are you all right?"

"Shaken, but I'm okay. What was that?"

"Something meant to kill you or Mr Potter, no doubt. At that range it's hard to say which of you was the intended target. It seems there are two people who have had that curse aimed at them and lived. I'll want to know how you did that, of course."

"Tonight, headmaster's office."

"Agreed. I must tell Dumbledore about this at once, before I let the students go any further."

With the students now inside the castle, she waved her wand and a glowing cat appeared, which ran through the wall.

"Are you okay?" whispered Sparkle.

"Didn't even touch me. I owe you one, that's for sure."

"I thought Hogwarts was supposed to be safe," hissed Harry. "This does not bode well."

Susan just nodded. _What would that bolt have done to me? She called it a killing curse…_

Suddenly the door opened and Albus was standing there.

"Everyone accounted for?" he asked seriously.

"The girl wasn't hurt, but the implications of this-"

"I know, Minerva. For now let us proceed. Our would be killer will not dare strike among so many, I think."

"Yes, you're probably right. Ah, my whole speech is ruined. I'll explain on the way. Forward, children!"

As Minerva was explaining the sorting ceremony, Susan noticed that two professors, Snape and Quirrell, entered through different ends of the hall and started to sit down. They noticed the other doing the same thing and both glared as if to demand "what were _you_ doing before?" Dumbledore finished speaking to the others at the head table, and wands were placed in easy reach. He motioned both late professors over to him.

_He's going to tell them about the attack, maybe gauge their reactions,_ thought Susan. _Yup, he's told them. Mostly identical reaction, interesting. And now they've looked over at Harry and me, oh, very good performance, bravo. Is one of you my would be- Wait, now what?_

Albus had evidently demanded their wands, and was prodding them both with his own. She stood up on tiptoe and strained to see- it looked like a little hologram floating above each, showing a messy office being tided up. _Is that the last spell they both cast?_

Suddenly she realized that everyone was staring at her, and Harry was poking her in the back and motioning with his head to get on with it.

_What? Oh, the Sorting, right._

She stepped forward and sat down. "Are you sure you're all right?" Minerva asked kindly.

"It's not every day someone tries to assassinate you," she said quietly back. "I was just watching our two late professors. Very interesting reactions there."

"Yes, well, in any case…" She lowered the hat onto Susan's head and waited. For Susan, time seemed to slow, and the hat spoke to her.

"And what might you be, my dear? Not a witch, that's for sure."

"You can tell?"

"It's all in your head. There's bravery, yes, no doubt about that. You didn't flinch or hide from that bolt just now, did you? You were thinking of what spells you knew that could defend you, and your friends. Very noble."

"I'm sure anyone would have done the same."

"Everyone from a certain house, yes." The hat chucked. "But at the same time you've read all your schoolbooks, and you have a thirst to know things. A very good quality for another house I could name. But which is stronger in you, I wonder?"

"Does it really matter that much?"

"There are secrets in this castle that only members of one house or another would be able to find," replied the hat.

"I want the house that has the most secrets!"

"And so my choice is made clear- Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted aloud.

Applause from the Ravenclaw table was loudest, and the hat was lifted from her head.

"It offered you Griffindor though, didn't it?" Minerva asked as Susan stood up.

She nodded.

"It offered me the same two," she said with a wink. "But I chose Griffindor. Go on then."

Susan went to go sit at the Ravenclaw table, to be swiftly joined by Hermione. Nevillee got Hufflepuff, and of course Draco got Sytherin, which he looked smug about. Harry and Ron went to Griffindor, which made Susan a little sad.

_I hope this doesn't change things between us._

With the sorting ceremony over, Albus stood to address everyone.

It looked like he was struggling with himself as to what to say, and kept looking back at Susan. "Go ahead and eat," he finally said, sitting down. All the older students looked really confused, and food started appearing at all the tables.

"Okay, that was weird," said a witch at the Ravenclaw table. "He doesn't seem like himself at all."

_That attack is really troubling him…_

Susan and Hermione made KNOledge checks, (or at least Susan did. Hermione did whatever it was she did to remember things) to try and one up each other quoting from _Hogwarts: A history. _She began to like this girl a bit, though she did seem a bit snooty.

_I wonder if this is how other people see me?_

After the food had gone, Albus, having hardly touched anything as far as she could see, got up again.

Once again, the room fell silent.

"I have been debating with myself how much to tell you," he began, "But as the entire first year class witnessed the attack, I feel honesty is best. Someone tried to murder a new student tonight."

A muted roar of conversation started up, but Albus waved his hands for silence.

"I want you to know that person is fine, and extra precautions will be taken this very night to make sure it does not happen again. All of you, I am sure, know the story of Harry Potter, and you have seen him be sorted into Gryffindor this very evening. There are those wizards who would still wish him harm for what happened eleven years ago. So I ask all of you: practice well your lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Report any suspicious happening around the castle. More suspicious then usual, I mean."

That got a small laugh.

_He doesn't know that attack was meant for Harry, but he's making it out that way. Because it's likely that Harry would be targeted, and he doesn't want me singled out?_

"Finally, some specific warnings. The forest surrounding the castle is home to beasts both terrifying and powerful. Some both at once. I advise all students to stay within the grounds, where the only dangers they shall face are late homework assignments. There is one place in the castle you must never go, however. The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side. The magics found there will most likely kill you outright, should you attempt them. I would strongly suggest not doing so. If it takes a few of you dying to get the point across, well, so be it. I did warn you, after all. That is all."

"What's that all about?" asked Hermione. "He might as well have just painted a target on the floor and said 'don't step here' for all the good that warning will do. Every Ravenclaw here will be poking around that corridor now."

"Just what I would want, if something valuable was hidden _someplace else_ in the castle," replied Susan.

Hermione thought about this a moment. "You realize you're my rival from now on, right?"

"If by 'rival' you mean in the Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak sort of way or are you really asking me if we could be friends?"

"Could we be friends?" she asked quietly.

"Friends," said Susan, sticking out a hand.

Hermione shook it solemnly. "Thanks."

"Sure thing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to slip away and find the headmaster's office." She pulled the map she had been carrying out of a pocket. "Before I almost get murdered again."

"You're going to have to tell me why you think someone would target you."

"I will. I'll tell you everything, since we're friends. But you have to promise not to tell _anyone _else. Okay?"

She nodded gravely, crossing her heart.

"Tomorrow morning, then. I don't know how long this meeting is going to go. Come on Sparkle. See you!"

Hermione gave a little wave and followed the rest of the Ravenclaws up to their dormitory. Susan put energy into COOrdination but still only rolled an 8 on her _Sneaking _check, which she rolled untrained, so plenty of eyes saw her get away. Only one pair burned with hatred.

"Lemon Sour," said Susan, standing before the great stone phoenix. It began to turn, and she had to admit the whole staircase thing was pretty impressive. She mounted the stairs and let herself be swept upwards. Sparkle followed close behind.

The door ahead of her swung open, and a grave looking Albus and Minerva were waiting for her. The office, of course, need not be described. Everyone knows what it looks like.

"Please, have a seat," said Albus. "I hope you enjoyed the feast."

"Nothing like a brush with death to begin to appreciate the finer things in life," replied Susan. "I don't suppose what you were doing to their wands proved anything?"

"You noticed that? Yes, I felt it was prudent, as they arrived late, to see what the last spell they both had cast was, Naturally, both are intelligent enough to have cast another spell after that one on the way to dinner, so we have no leads at the moment. What I said was true, however, I will be looking further into it and checking the wards around the castle.

I am curious, however, how that particular curse was blocked."

"As am I," said Minerva, "The speed of the casting was, well, inhuman! I didn't even see you move or speak a word. Are you really that powerful?"

Susan laughed. "It wasn't me. Sparkle saved my life, she was the one that saw it coming."

"Your _cat?" _said Minerva, unbelieving, staring down at her.

"She's just as good a _Natural Magician_ as I am. And she has an insane LUCk, like all cats. So she happened to see it in time. I'm glad my family found her. Of course, _Deflection _has a zero casting time anyway, so once she saw it coming, it was as good as deflected."

"Astonishing. This brings us to the main reason why you were invited here tonight. To learn how similar and how different are the ways we do magic. Can you, will you, tell us how your magic works?"

"I trust you both. I don't mind telling you, it could be important later on. Where to begin…"

Susan got up and started pacing, thinking about her magic.

"From what I read, and what Hermione said, your spells are all cast in the same way. A phrase and wand movements. My magic is cast very differently. It's easier if I show you… with your permission?"

Albus leaned forward, nodding. His eyes shining with excitement.

"I'm going to pull my book of magic out of my _Pocket Dimension. _I'll cast the spell as slowly as I can so you can see every part of it. Here we go." She started casting, and the familiar circle of magic opened near her.

"_Pocket Dimension, retrieval, book of spells," _she intoned, and the circle opened into a formless void. Susan stuck her hand in and pulled out her book. Both professors eyes were wide.

"Now," she said, thumping it down on the desk, "Let's see the spell description for that one." She paged through. "Ah, here we are. Take a look."

Minerva moved closer and both took a look at the pages she had opened to.

"It's the same symbols," said Albus.

"Exactly," said Susan. "Take a look at some other spells, you'll see they're all different."

Albus did so, his eyes darting about the pages.

"That's the first step in casting wandless magic, envisioning that symbol in my mind. Then it's projected from me with magical energies, creating that glowing representation you saw. The words I say describe what I want the magic to do, defining the task it will perform. Say I want to fly somewhere, right? As soon as I get there, even if I want to keep the magic going, its purpose is over and I would have to cast it again with new parameters. Then I make a stat check of some kind. Each type of spell falls into the domain of a planet, or the moon in the case of 'Earth' magic. I think because 'Earth' spells, being so close to home, so to speak, would be too much for a human body to handle. Anyway, Mars spells, for example, relate to fire or war and rely on STRength. Forcing the magic physically to do what you want. On the opposite end is Saturn, which relies on KNOwledge. The more I learn about the world and my place in it, the better my Saturn spells will work out. Obviously this means I'm much better at casting Saturn spells then Mars spells, because I'm way smarter then I am strong. If all that works out the magic goes off, and the spell is successful. This is a slight simplification, because as a _Natural Magician _I can expend some portion of my body's natural energy to strengthen the magic and get a better result, but that's the basics.

Now again, from what I understand, some wand magic spells are instantaneous and some have a duration. Some just keep going unless dispelled. But you don't have to maintain the spells yourself. You could cast a hundred petrify spells or whatever, and you could still cast a hundred more. I'm not so lucky- when I cast a spell that isn't instantaneous I have to maintain it, and that drags me down a little. Also I expend a portion of my energies to cast the spell, so casting a hundred spells in succession would probably kill me. As far as trying to maintain that many: My body can only have so much magic going through it before I can't even walk anymore because I would just trip on my own feet. But that lets me fight off things like the Thief's Downfall in Gringots. Sparkle here was shape-shifted into the form of a fairy so she could ride on my shoulder, and when we got hit by that, she had to struggle to hold onto the spell. But she managed it. From what I understand, the spell of a wand user would have just washed away, because there was no connection between them and the magic."

"You are correct," said Albus, leaning back. "You have certainly done your homework about this."

"Well, I've been a wizard most of my life, and when I learned Harry was one too… I tried to teach him some of my spells but none would work for him. I wanted to know why, so once I got my schoolbooks I started researching it. Of course the _Research_ spell helped too."

Albus thought for awhile, and Susan sat down again. Minerva kept paging through the book, fascinated.

"How did you come by this book?" she asked.

"It's always been with me. My mother said it just appeared one day in my room when I was a baby. She tried to get rid of it many times, but it always came back."

"Has it ever spoken to you? Or shown you things?"

"Spoken? No, not exactly. I can ask it for a new spell, and the next day the formula will be in the book. That's why it cost me 4 background- uh, never mind."

"I ask because I see some dangerous spells in here. I mean, _Silent Slayer? _That seems a bit worse, actually, then the spell cast at you tonight._"_

"It does seem to be a complete record of all magical things I can do, from making items to feeling out other sources of magic. So yes, many of the spells are dangerous. I've only learned one attack spell, _Elemental Bolt (fire), _so you can put your mind at ease."

"I guess we will just have to trust you. After all, if you wanted to learn those spells you already would have."

"There is that."

Albus spoke again. "The main issue I can see is that your magic is so different then ours. That magical circle that appears gives it away at the start, that you are doing something different then we do. Even if you pretended to use a wand during your stay here, it wouldn't matter."

"Am I to leave then? I can learn to suppress the circle to an extent, but it's all tied in with my magic, so someone is bound to see it."

He chuckled. "No, I don't mean to alarm you, of course. Merely pointing out the difficulty you'll face. We could keep you out of spellcasting classes, you wouldn't get anything out of them anyway."

"That would be terribly suspicious though."

"Indeed. I wonder…" He stared off into space for a moment. "What spells, exactly, do you have memorized from this?"

"You want the list? Let's see, I can make light, food and water. I can heal. I can make things slippery or dazzle someone. Oh, seeing in the dark, setting things on fire and telling if someone is lying. I have a spell to tell me the time, follow where someone has gone, or make myself better at doing something, like throwing or playing the piano. I can repair stuff, oh you know about that one, and I can unlock doors." Minerva as flabbergasted, and even Albus seemed impressed. She started ticking more off her fingers. "I can sculpt stone, become nearly invisible, and breathe underwater. And I can become out of phase with normal matter so I can pass through walls. Yeah, that's about it I think. Of course Sparkle know a bunch of those, but a bunch of different ones, too."

"But how can a cat cast spells? Didn't you say it required speech? She doesn't seem like a normal cat, she's too attentive."

Sparkle looked up at Susan. "Go ahead."

Sparkle cleared her throat. "Spells do require speech, professor, so it's a good thing I can talk."

Minerva glanced over at Albus. "What?" asked Susan. "That isn't common in the magical world either?"

Suddenly, Minerva shrunk down and became a cat herself, and started sniffing around Sparkle. "You can do shape-shift? Neat! Wait, you didn't have your wand out."

"Actually," said Albus, "She can turn into a cat, and that's it. It's something she had to work at doing, but now she can do it at will. Am I to understand your 'shape-shift' as you call it, can turn a creature into any other?"

Susan nodded, and Minerva was standing there again.

"It's not an Animagus transformation, she really is a real cat."

"Of course she's a real- oh."

"Yes, you see it, right? She could be a person pretending to be a cat to some unknown end."

"That would be tricky with wandless magic, though of course spells can be made permanent."

"It seems your magic is quite different, and possibly more versatile, then ours. And was this cat born this way, or did she become this way because she spent time with you? How did she learn human speech? How does a normal cat become a _wizard?_ But the larger question remains, what do we do about it?"

"I hate to go to a magical school and swear off magic. That seems counter productive."

"What if," said Minerva, "We just treat it as unremarkable? Or that perhaps she is testing a new kind of wand from Olivanders?"

"Could you, given advance notice, learn a spell that is close enough to what the other kids are going to learn to be able to fake it?"

"That depends on several things. How many I would be required to learn, and what level that spell is. I can only learn spells if I have the XP for it."

"I don't know what ex pea is."

"It seems no-one does. My mother got very weirded out when I showed her my character sheet. It's almost like I follow different physical laws then everyone else, to an extent. When I do things, like what I would call an 'adventure', I get points. I use those points to get better at things. Don't ask, it'll take all night to try and explain."

"As long as you understand it, I guess. One day I would like to learn more about that, but you're right, that isn't the issue here. The first magic you'll learn in Charms class is the hover charm. What will we do about potions though?"

"I can make drinkable magic items, but again they cost me XP. In some cases a lot. I wonder though, I can make a potion _for _someone, and they pay the XP cost. But you don't actually have XP, so what would happen? Would it just fail, or would it work and drain nothing? I would be interested to try."

"Can you use our ingredients?"

"Let me see." She flipped through the book. "I'll need a specific object for each potion, and 'materials costing 10 monetary units times its XP cost'. Now depending on the cost of the stuff normally used I might be able to get away with just using it for that part. But if I didn't know the spell to be put into the potion I would have to refer to the spellbook during the process. I could just write the formula into a fake potions book..."

"In other words, there are ways you could 'fake it' so to speak."

"With some work, that I am willing to put in, I might add, yes. As long as everyone buys the story about my 'beta magic'."

"Beta?"

"In the non-magical world, something that's beta is not ready for public use, but is being tested by people."

"Then it sounds like we have a plan. I'll get you a copy of what will be taught in classes relating directly to magic. As long as you don't do any magic that, say, Hermione hasn't mastered, you should be taken as just another witch. Ah, I will have to tell Severus your potions may be different then the ones he assigns, and may need different ingredients. He can sneak them to you, I'm sure. As far as grading them, as long they work properly... oh, they would have to drunk to know that, right?"

"Oh, we'll know if it doesn't. They won't explode or anything," she added quickly. "But if they will not have the intended effect, the imbuing just won't work."

"Very well, we'll see how it goes. So how did Sparkle nullify that killing curse?"

"The spell _Deflection _forms a magical barrier in the air. Basically, any attack that can be parried with a shield just bounces off of it. If he had used some kind of area attack fireball spell, _Deflection_ wouldn't have done anything. And it seems that spell would bounce off something that wasn't alive, so here I am."

"If only we could teach that spell to our students," remarked Minerva.

"But wouldn't you? I mean, it's still magic, right? I'm creating a magical effect there in the air. I may do it differently then you do, but if I can do it with magic, shouldn't you be able to do it with magic?"

"That's an interesting theory," said Albus. "If you're willing, one I would like to explore in more detail some time."

"Headmaster, I am at your disposal."

"Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about, I'll be interested to watch your progress and see how your magic really stacks up to ours in everyday usage."

"I'm glad we could work something out. Now, if someone can tell me how to get to my dorm, it's been a long day."

"Of course. Minerva, if you would?"


	6. Chapter 6

6

Getting to know you

Time: Nearly lunchtime

Place: Ravenclaw common room

The students had arrived at Hogwarts on Friday night, because the professors realized it was best to get them used to the castle and being away from home for the first time over a weekend. And after waking up rather late Saturday and grabbing a bite to eat, Hermione cornered Susan and demanded her story. She was only too eager to tell it. Sparkle snoozed on her lap, having been up most of the night exploring the castle.

"You've had _adventures?" _breathed Hermione. "All I've done is read books, it's so unfair."

"I'm not sure that discovering an empty vault, watching Professor Snape retrieve a small package and then almost getting killed count as adventures." _Though I did some XP, so someone must have thought so._

"But you can teleport stuff into Hogwarts! You can fix wands! Could you teleport yourself into the castle? It's supposed to be impossible but…"

"I don't know. I've read the _Teleport _spell over so can cast it from writings. I'll have to try it out sometime."

"Can I see your magic?"

Susan looked around, everyone else was either off exploring the castle or reading, and thus paying no attention to them. However she did spot a very small man looking around, who caught her looking around.

"Excuse me," he said, coming over to her. "Do you know where I can find Susan Felton?"

"Why yes… professor?"

"Professor Flitwick, charms."

"Charmed- oh you _teach _charms. I can tell you exactly where to find Susan. Tadaa!" She threw her hands wide.

"Excellent! I have something here for you from Albus."

"Ah, that will be my review notes for upcoming classes. Thank you."

"Do you really-" he glanced over at Hermione.

"It's all right, professor. We are officially friends, so I've taken her into my confidence."

He lowered his voice (even more for such a short guy) "Do you really use a different kind of magic then we do?"

Susan nodded. "But I'll be pretending to do the same kind. Hence the advance warning from the professors here. That way I can learn or create a spell that is similar enough to magic done here to get by without comment. That's the hope, anyway."

"Well, good luck! I'll be interested to see how you do in my class then!"

"Looking forward to it, Professor."

He left.

"Let's see it!" said Hermione.

"What?" said Susan, pretending to be shocked. "Give you advance notice of what you should be studying? That's cheating!"

"It's only cheating if you get caught."

"Oh, you're a philosophy major! That's different." She smiled and opened the letter. Her face fell. "What?"

"What is it?"

"It seems we're going to spend months learning one 'charm', Wingardium Leviosa. Are wanded magic spells really that hard to get exactly right?"

"I didn't have much trouble doing the practice ones listed in the front of the charms book."

"Weird. Let's see, in potions class we'll be working on something to cure boils. Boils? That seems weird… you wanted to see my magic, right?"

Hermione vigorously nodded her head.

"Okay." She looked around the room again. "Can you tell me where a huge, sort of old looking book is in our dorm, that's owned by me?"

She thought a moment. "Right on your nightstand was a book, is that it?"

"That's the one." Susan envisioned it and the magical symbols needed to begin the spell. "_Retrieval, book of spells." _she intoned. Her book plopped into Hermione's lap. She put her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

"That was amazing!"

"Eh, it's a useful one, I admit. And slightly easier to cast then _Pocket Dimension_, so I figured I would just leave it out. Can you put it on the table there, I don't want to disturb Sparkle. Thanks."

She opened it and started leafing through, looking for healing magic. Hermione of course was enchanted.

"Don't bother," said Susan. "You won't get anything out of it. Harry and I tried for a month, but it may as well have been gibberish for all the good it did him."

"Still…"

"I know. Ravenclaw. Ah, here it is. Antigen, grade 5. That shouldn't be too hard.

_Cure any and all disease in or on the target._

Thought so. Can you get your potions book?"

"Sure." She ran off to grab it, and came back, handing it over. "Yup, yup, yup." Susan paged through it. "You wand users have it rough, let me tell you. You have to learn a different potion for _every kind of disease. _I only have to learn one, and it cures everything. Is there seriously no potion of 'cure everything' in the wizard world?"

"Maybe we just have to work up to it?"

"That's stupid. Even if it's insanely complex, it would be a far better use of time to study and learn to get it exactly right then learn two dozen lesser potions in the same amount of time. Seriously, when are you going to have the one you need, either made or on you at the time you need it? My potion cures anything, and I only need one bottle."

"I don't deny your logic."

"As far as _sillyosa _is concerned, it seems I have two options. _Floating Fingers _or its big brother _Telekinesis. _One is grade one, and can lift a book, but that's about it. Big brother, on the other hand, costs me 5 more to learn then that and could, in theory, lift a car. Especially given that I can put energy directly into my result. How much XP do I have?"

Hermione gasped as a piece of paper was in Susan's hands that wasn't there a second ago. "Where did you pull that from?" she demanded.

"You don't want to know," said Susan with a wink. "But seriously, you don't have a character sheet either?"

"A _what?_"

"Yeah, thought so. I have never met anyone else who has one. Bizarre. When I figure out how to explain it to the headmaster I'll explain it to you." She put the sheet "away" again. Anyway, I have 17 at the moment, easily enough to learn _Telekinesis_ and have a bunch left over. It's useful enough on its own, I would think. Okay, give me about… eleven minutes here."

Hermione sat and patiently waited, reviewing _Potion of Cure Boils _to make sure she could do it properly when the time came.

Susan made her KNOwledge check, a 13, to learn the spell, and snapped the book shut. Hermione looked up.

"_Telekinesis,_" she intoned, imagining the circle she had now memorized around the book and making precise, quick, hand motions. The light faded and the book rose into the air. "Looks like I'm prepared for class."

"That was it? You just sat there looking at the formula and now you can cast it? You didn't have to practice at all?"

"Well, I already know how to cast Mercury spells. It's really just adapting that knowledge to cast this spell in particular."

"Wild."

"As far as my potion is concerned, I'll copy the formula for _Antigen _down into the potions book later so I can look like I'm looking at the same thing as everyone else. For now, let's go find Harry and grab some lunch. Then we need to find a man named Rubeus."

"Why?" she asked, standing up and heading up the stairs to put the books away again.

"There's another bit of magic I have to perform today," she said, touching the side of her nose. "And I shouldn't keep him waiting."

—

Four people went down to Rubeus's Hut, down by the forest. Harry, Susan, Hermione, and Ron.

"So how's Hogwarts been to you so far?" Susan asked Harry. "I've made a friend, learned a new spell, and explained to two people how my magic works."

"What's this?" asked Ron.

Harry shot him a look. "Oh, right. Her mysterious past or whatever, right?"

"Exactly. Mainly I've just been trying to figure out the topology of this castle."

"Topology?" Ron asked. "Mate, are you sure you shouldn't be in Ravenclaw?"

"The Sorting Hat seemed to think I would make a good addition to any house. Even Slytherin, crazy as that sounds."

"Seriously?"

"I turned down that house, actually."

"I should think so! Why are we out here so near the forest again?"

"Because Rubeus knew Harry's parents, and he asked me for a favor."

"How does he even know you?"

"He knows me by reputation. There was some, uh, magic related hijinks after Harry got his letter that I won't go into. Suffice to say I made an impression."

Ron just scratched his head.

Now close enough, they found the enormous man sitting on a tree stump outside his Hut, playing a sort of recorder.

"Susan, and Harry!" he exclaimed, jumping up. "I didn't mean you had to rush right down here, you know."

"No trouble Rubeus. I figured you were anxious about your wand so it would be cruel to make you wait when a couple of energy and a slight effort of will can make things better."

"Well come in, I'll put on some tea!"

The five made conversation for a moment, and Ron noticed all the pictures and fangs and scales and claws of dragons hung about the place.

"Is that from a horntail?" he asked, pointing at a horn.

"It sure is! How did you know that? Have an interest in dragons, do you? Man, I'd love a dragon."

"My bother Charlie works with them in Romania."

"He's a lucky guy."

They started talking about dragon lore, seeming to get along well. Finally, Susan could take 'wingspan ratio to fight power' no more and stood up, hands flat on the table.

"All right, out with it, Rubeus. We all know why I'm here. Are you stalling for some reason?"

"I don't," muttered Ron.

"All right, fine." Rubeus went and peeked out all his windows, then closed the curtains. He went over to his umbrella stand and pulled out one, then came and sat back down.

"The truth is, there was a bit of an incident a few years back," he began. "And everyone thought I had set a dangerous creature called Aragog on people. Of course he never hurt anybody, did Aragog, but the ministry wasn't convinced. To appease them, I was expelled from Hogwarts, and me wand, well…" He paused.

"It was snapped," said Hermione. "Standard procedure for an expulsion."

"Like you said. Well, Dumbledore, the great man that he is, knew I was innocent so he convinced the current headmaster to hire me, there on the spot, to actually work here! A great man, Dumbledore. But now of course I can't do a lot of magic, and it often goes wrong when I try. Obviously until I find some way to clear my name I can't just wave it about, the ministry would find out. But having it be reliable again-"

"Say no more," said Susan. "Let's see what you have left of it."

Rubeus fearfully looked over at the windows again, then slowly drew two pieces of wand out of his umbrella. "It won't matter it was so long ago, will it?"

"What? No, I could put ancient cities back together with enough time, that's not a problem. Okay, here goes!"

Spending max energy and taking the most time, she envisioned the circle and cast _Repair _on the wand. Just as with the wand she herself broke, it flowed back together. Rubeus reverently picked it up.

Ron was flabbergasted. Hermione was impressed. Harry was looking around the Hut some more.

"So give us a spell then!" encouraged Susan.

"Right, right. Spell." He went over to the teapot. "_Aguamenti_," he said, pointing the wand inside, and it started filling up with water.

"Not a bad piece of work, if I do say so myself," said Susan, smiling.

"I can't ever repay you," said Rubeus, fat tears running down his face. "Not ever."

Susan waved a dismissive hand. "Bah. It was nothing."

"You don't understand…" Rubeus tried to say, but had to grab a handkerchief out of his pocket and blow his nose.

"You made him a wizard again," explained Hermione. "With his wand snapped, he was just a big man that worked at Hogwarts. Now he's a wizard that works at Hogwarts."

"She's got it right enough. Means the world to me, you know? Whatever I can do for you, you just name it, Susan."

"Well, just don't get caught using it because everyone will know who did the repair job, won't they?"

"Don't worry, no chance of that!"

"Um…" said Ron, getting his wand out.

"Yes?" answered Susan.

"Would you mind casting that spell on my wand? It's, well, it's actually a hand me down. Wands are pretty expensive, and there's still seven us of living at home so my parents can't, uh, actually afford, you know. It's kind of beat up."

"You can use a wand that belongs or belonged to another wizard?" asked Susan.

"Yeah, it just takes more skill or something, I guess. They don't work as well, I don't know."

"This won't make it yours, you know."

"No, but at least the unicorn hair might stop poking out. As it isn't my wand I'll need all the help I can get just to do any magic with it at all."

"Okay, set it down." She prepared to cast the spell again.

It was several hours later that the four headed back to the castle.

"He's a pretty nice guy, Rubeus," remarked Hermione.

"He seemed to know my parents pretty well," said Harry.

"He certainly has a dragon fetish," remarked Ron.

"What I want to know," said Susan, "Is how giants, and dragons, and werewolves and all the other stuff he was talking about can be just wandering around and the non-magical world is totally ignorant that they exist!"

"Magic?" said Hermione.

"You're fired."

They both laughed.

With most of Saturday gone the four explored the castle a bit, then turned in for the night.

Sunday was spent much the same, but Harry and Hermione wanted to practice the wand movements for _Wingardium Leviosa _so asked some older kids to demonstrate it for them. Susan was sure their motivations were quite different: Harry wanted to get as early a start on his training as possible in case Death Eaters attacked, and Susan was pretty sure Hermione was jealous of Susan mastering _Telekinesis _so easily. Ron reluctantly started practicing as well, so as to not be left out.

"How can you not be excited about _doing magic_?" asked Susan, as the three practiced. "I mean you can wave a bit of wood around and make something float through the air!"

"I've seen that sort of stuff done all my life. Plenty of time in class to do this kind of stuff, we should be out enjoying our last day of freedom."

"Ron, learning is fun," said Hermione, "Not a punishment."

"So _you_ say."

In charms class the next day, Professor Flitwick gave them an introduction to magic and had them practice the "swish" and "flick" wand movements. Susan felt very silly swinging her pretend wand about, but that freed up her concentration to see how the others were doing. Ron's wandwork was quite sloppy, she thought, obviously he had not grasped the concept of the "quasi latin phrase with a _precise wand movement_." Neville was concentrating totally on his own hand, his eyes tracking the wand with each "swish" and "flick", which she thought was going a bit too far. Draco, who had deliberately bumped Harry when he went past, had pretty good wand movement, and Susan wondered if he had practicing previously as well.

With ten minutes to go Filius handed out feathers and cautioned that hardly any wizard, on their first try, got a result. He explained that failure here meant nothing, and it would take time for them to learn the forty five individual wand movements that, when strung together, produced magical results. This was just an exercise because he was sure they were anxious to get started trying to do magic.

Naturally, Hermione and Harry lifted the feather from the desk on the first try. Filius was delighted as well, when Draco's feather also rose into the air, and Susan, figuring _Why the heck not, I'll be in company now_ cast her first spell using a different trigger word then normal.

She knew that should could cast without the words, as long as she thought them. It just made the spell +4 more difficult to pull off. So she thought _Telekinesis _but said _Wingardium Leviosa _and even with the penalty, the feather was so light as to not even exist and floated up with the others.

"Astonishing!" yelled Filius, falling off the stack of books he used to stand on. "Four people in one class? The first class? I don't believe it!"

So Griffindor got five points, Slytherin house got five, and Ravenclaw got ten. Hermione was quite pleased.

Ron, looking up at all the floating feathers, seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Hermione," he asked, "How, _exactly,_ does that wand movement go again?" She almost, but not quite, managed not to be smug about showing him.

Their first potions class went a bit differently.

Severus swept in, calling for quiet in a voice that brooked no delay, and he got it.

"Well, well, Harry Potter and Susan Felton," he sneered. "Our newest celebrities. Heard you both were showing off in charms class, but I won't have any of that here, understand?"

_Learning a spell successfully is "showing off?", _thought Susan. _This guy's really reaching. Maybe I shouldn't have broken his wand like that? Still, I would rather share the brunt of his bad attitude then making Harry shoulder all of it._

He started going off about how grand potion making was, to which Susan though, _Uh, no? Your potion making is crap. You can't put spells into objects or creams, only liquids. You have to learn potions for every little thing rather then more generic potions that do everything. Yes, I'll admit your charm spells that can put magic into an object are nice, but that's a far cry from putting any spell into any object, now isn't it?_

"Girl!" he suddenly said, looking at Susan.

_Oh, I'm still just 'girl' am I? Oh, your XP is going down mister. If you have any._

Severus continued. "What potion would be produced using the ingredients asphodel and wormwood?"

Hermione's hand went up.

_What? He knows my Imbuing is different from his, the Headmaster told him. I could make any potion with those ingredients as long as they cost the right amount._

"Sadly, I do not know, sir."

"I see. What about you, Potter? If I needed a bezoar, where would I go?"

"Your filling cabinet?" he said seriously.

Hermione's hand stayed up.

"I mean originally, of course, and one point from Gryffindor for cheek."

Harry looked over at Susan, who gave her head a little shake.

"The stomach of a goat," Harry replied.

Hermione's hand went down.

"Good guess," said Severus, "As I'm sure that's all it was."

_Actually, I could have told him that one. Hermione, Harry and I all read the same books before coming here, after all, and that one doesn't relate to potion making, strictly speaking. It's just a thing that cures poison, not a potion, so it was mentioned multiple times._

"One more chance, girl. What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

_Oh come on! There's no difference for- fine, he wants to play games, we'll play games. I earned five points today so far, if it falls to four, well, that's still more then most. I'll give him MY answer to that question, not the wanded magic answer._

"For me there is no difference," she said confidently. Severus' lip twitched.

"Another good guess. I'll expect actual knowledge from you all on my exams."

_Wait, I was right? That backfired on him, didn't it? _She suppressed a smile. _Jerk._

After handing out ingredients, Severus reluctantly called her over to his desk.

"I have been… instructed… by the headmaster to accommodate your freakish _Imbuing_ or whatever you call it. What mystical delight will you be performing for us today, and what do you need?" he asked, razor blades dipped in acid, and set on fire cutting his every word.

"As we're working on a potion of Cure Boils, I thought I would make my version, that instead cures every disease. I'll need a piece of cloth that's been dipped in cold water and components costing 5 Galleons. I'll need five hours to finish it."

"For five Galleons you can cure-" he stopped, coming back to himself. "Fine. You can stay a bit later to finish it up. I'll go get you some leavings to make up the rest of the cost."

"Thank you."

With the components gathered, Susan set about _Imbuing_ the potion, reading the formula from the page she had written the day before. Of course, a magical circle sprang up around her cauldron, diverting everyone's attention.

"Eyes on your own work!" Severus bellowed, and everyone hastily got back to it. While maintaining the magic and waiting for the "ingredients" to break down into magic to produce the potion, she again watched Neville, who seemed to be focusing on his hands as he carefully chopped up his ingredients.

_There's something wrong with that boy,_ she thought. _But I can't seem to put my finger on what. _The others were focused on the knife, or on the directions, but Neville… He dropped some porcupine quills into the brew, which immediately started to smoke and melt through the cauldron. He jerked away, and his hand went flying into it, knocking it over and splashing the contents onto him. He cried out as it burned him.

Severus stalked over and made the whole thing vanish. "Can you not follow even simple directions?" he bellowed. "You can't be heating it when you add the quills, that should be obvious to even you! Seamus, take him to the hospital wing. Back to work everyone. I suppose you should thank him, Potter, you were about to make the same mistake! Another point from Gryffindor and one from Hufflepuff for his screw up."

Neville was lead out, looking at his feet as he walked. _Something wrong with that boy…_

"So girl, how goes it with you? You're not about to blow up my classroom, are you?"

_What the? Man, he moves quietly!_

"I got a thirteen on my check, professor, it's just a matter of allowing the ingredients to discorporate."

"A thirteen? What does that even- I don't even want to know." He stalked off again.

_Better switch to decaf, dude._

As the class ended and everyone filed out, they gave Susan really funny looks. Her Imbued potion needed another hour to finish, and the magical circle around the fire glowed and sparkled happily. This being a double potions session, she already had four hours into it. _Good thing I can stop it at any time, _she thought. _This would have taken almost three sessions otherwise. Best to just finish it up now though, in case he pokes around and messes it up._

Ron, Hermione and Harry offered to wait with her, but she said maybe Harry should go. There was no sense provoking the man, after all, who was now sitting at his desk writing up how everyone had done on their potions.

He agreed, and an hour later Susan left with an Imbued casting of Antigen tucked away in her _Pocket Dimension._

_ What a waste of time, but at least I know "stealing" XP works. Normally it wouldn't, of course, as people can't be forced to give it up, but he wanted a potion so I made him a potion. Quite devious of me, really. Though I doubt he had it to lose, something made it work. Ah well, who cares. Still, just casting it would be a million times easier. Making potions must compensate for spells wand users can't do any other way. Rather silly of me to do it. Much better to make a reusable item with one charge, then at least I could recharge it way easier. Must keep up appearances though, I guess. _

Then came the class Hermione had said she was most dreading, because reading about flying about on a broomstick and actually doing it was akin to reading about swimming and actually being thrown in the water. Chairs, upon which one sat to read, hardly ever lifted off the ground.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Problem Solving

Time: Broomstick Class

Place: A field outside the castle

Susan looked down at the broomstick she would shortly be "sitting" on to learn "broomstick flying". For the thousandth time she shook her head. Seriously, in the thousands of years magic had existed, no one had figured out a _Flight_ spell? But then, in thinking about it, her first year magical textbook didn't list any spells that were cast upon oneself.

_No wonder they make healing potions_, _wanded wizards seem to have a major weakness in they can't use their magic on themselves. _

It was a major revelation, and of course led to the next one rather directly.

_Why?_

All her magic was targeted. She could cast on herself, a group, an object- it didn't matter. In a flash, she decided she probably already knew the answer. Magic flowed from a person, through the wand, and out. To have magic flow from a person, out the wand, and then back into the person might cause some kind of feedback loop. Her magic just appeared wherever she wanted it. She was the cause, but not strictly the conduit.

In any case, she had cast _Flight_ on herself before class, with the intention of maintaining it "until broomstick class is over". She would then just lock her legs around the broomstick and fly normally. As with trying to remember to use her wand to cast magic, it would be annoying, but passible. The problem was that Mrs Hooch expected them to command the broom into their hands simply by saying "up" to it. As Susan stepped around the broom and put her hand out, she wondered if that would actually work for her. Was the broom enchanted to follow such orders?

No such luck.

However, most of the others also had trouble, with only Harry getting his broom into his hand on the first try. In the end she used _Telekinesis _on the broom's bristles, which mostly hid the circle, then stepped away from it slightly and made them rise towards her, which made the rest of the broom follow. She grabbed it just under the bristles and caught Professor Hooch's eye with a "That's the best I can do" look. It satisfied her trying to fit in with the others, and soon everyone was mounting their brooms.

"Right," said Professor Hooch. "Flying is quite easy. The broom goes where it is pointed, so if you want to turn, just steer it in that direction. So basically you're going to lift it to fly up, and push it down to fly down. So here's what I want you to do. When I blow my whistle I want you to pull up on your brooms just enough so your feet leave the ground. Stop pulling up and hover for a moment so I can see your feet, then push down and stand again. Everyone got that? And-" She put her whistle in her month.

Sadly, Neville, _something wrong with that boy_ jerked his broom as she was inhaling and shot into the air.

"Push it down boy!" said Professor Hooch, "Down!" Those in Sytherin laughed, but Susan got a 13 on a REAson check and saw where this was going. She drew her wand, using an active action, and then used energy to reduce her _Active Delay_ as much as she could. She started to say _Telekinesis, _but stopped, mentally groaned, and changed it to "Wingardium-"

*THUD*

Neville hit the ground. _Crap. Oh, Neville. Sorry about that, it's because I hesitated casting the spell._

"Nice effort!" shouted the professor, running over to Neville. "Five points to Ravenclaw."

Susan hurried over to them both. "Broken wrist," said Professor Hooch. "We'll have to get you to the hospital wing. You'll be fixed right up."

"I could fix it right here," whispered Susan.

"Too suspicious. I'll just take him down there, not a problem. Thank you for the offer though."

She helped Neville up. "Right, I'm taking him to the hospital wing. I see a broom in the air-" she looked up to see Neville's broom floating away. "I see _another_ broom in the air, and you'll have a bad time. Are we clear?"

_Humm, Severus sent someone with Neville so he could watch his class. Professor Hooch went with, and used a threat. Which is the better teacher? The compassionate one, or the jerk?_

After he had been led away, Draco came over to her.

"Did you really think you could lift a whole person?" he sneered.

"If I hadn't been the only one to try, maybe," she answered. _Of course I could, you idiot. I could lift both you and your musclehead buddies at the same time._

The others looked away, it was true they had just stood there and done nothing. Even Hermione looked ashamed.

"Hey boss, he dropped something." Crabb (or Goyle) said, throwing something to Draco. "It's a Remembrall, he seems like it needs one."

"What, it helps you remember stuff?"

"No, don't be stupid. It just lights up if you've forgotten something."

"Doesn't seem very useful. The human brain forgets a million things in the course of a day."

_Not to mention I'm pretty sure there's a spell in my book to make you remember something if you know you've forgotten it. So it seems wanded wizards can make enchanted objects? Bet it's just a charm they cast on it that wears off after a while, and that's also why it's so useless._

"Obviously I mean something important, girl," he sneered, following Severus' convention.

"Professor Snape earned the right to call me girl," she said. "You will apologize."

It took Draco a moment to process this, but in the end he decided to ignore it as Harry stepped up.

"Hand it over, Draco," he said. "I'm sure you don't need it."

"You're quite correct, Potter. The question becomes, will Neville remember he had it without having it to remind him?" He grabbed his broom and pushed off. "I'll leave it someplace so we can observe the result of the experiment. Like maybe up a tree."

"I'm warning you," Susan said, pointing her useless stick up at him.

"What, are you going to levitate me? I'm already flying, moron."

_Aarg, using any magic but that will give me away, it's the only spell they've learned! _

However, Harry grabbed his broom and also pushed off the ground, and seemed quite amazed when it actually worked.

"You're going to get us all in trouble!" Hermione wailed. "You're only hurting yourself, Darco."

"Normal rules don't apply to me," he said. "Come catch it if you can."

He took off and Harry shot after him. Susan wondered if she should go help, but then realized she wasn't maintaining _Flight_ anymore. It seemed with the disappearance of her teacher, the magic decided class was over and that was that. She could cast it again, but that would really draw suspicion. Of course, everyone was clapping for Harry (well, not Crabb, or Goyle) so she might not be noticed. Suddenly Draco threw the ball as hard as he could, and Harry zoomed past him to catch it in midair.

"I have to admit, right now he looks pretty cool," Susan said to no one in particular.

"Oh, does someone have a little crush?" asked Hermione teasingly, poking her in the arm.

"Who doesn't?" she asked, as Harry was now floating in the air, while those still left on the ground where cheering and clapping.

As he landed, Minerva came storming out of the castle and swept Harry off to his destiny of Seeker, leaving the rest of the class excitedly talking about the whole thing.

_Yeah, class is over._

It took the rest of the week, but Susan finally figured out what was wrong with Neville. It happened thanks to Hermione, as Professor Flitwick was delighting in having a student he only had to show something once. That's when it hit her.

"Hermione, you have some sort of photographic reflexes or something."

"I have what?"

"Some people have photographic memories, right? They can look at something and then call that image, so to speak, back later. But you see something done and you can mimmic that movement exactly. That's why you're such a good spellcaster!"

"I don't know, I've never heard of such a thing as photographic reflexes."

"Neither have I, but it's the only explanation that fits, right? Draco would try to get you to believe that because you came from a non-magical family, you were somehow inferior to him. (He goes on and on about it often enough) But yet, he can't hover charm anything heaver then you can right now. It isn't blood, or exactness of movement that determines how powerful a person's spell is. It's something else. I have no idea what it would be for you, but we know a wizard gets more powerful as they age. So something is increasing."

"Could it be, I don't know, a magical muscle?"

Draco snorted. Any conversation that involved blood purity caught his attention.

"You have something to add, Draco?" asked Susan with false sweetness.

"It just sounds stupid. Magical muscle."

"So what would you call it? I'm sure your father could lift more casting the hover charm then you could, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, is your blood any less 'pure' then his?"

"No!"

"Then what's the explanation, hum? Obviously his magical strength increased as he got older. Is it because he got older, or just that he's done magic longer? Because from where I sit, you and Hermione are equal in magical power, meaning your blood purity stuff is meaningless."

"I don't have to listen to this."

"Yes, we would appreciate your staying out of conversations that don't include you, wouldn't we Hermione?"

"Yes we would."

Draco went back to practicing his hover charm.

"Anyway, back to our original discussion, you can learn to perform spells faster, but that doesn't mean you can do them any stronger then anyone else. You just lessen the learning curve. But there's one thing I want you to pay special attention to."

"What's that?"

"See if you can tell what spell is being cast by just the wand movement. When you're up against wizards that can skip the verbal part of the spell, you're going to have to read their wands to know what's coming. I bet you'll have an edge because you can think ahead of them, complete the wand motion in your head, and come up with the counter charm before they finish."

"You really think that's possible?"

"If photographic reflexes is real, why not? It wouldn't hurt to try, anyway. I guess we would have to get a basketball player in here, and see if you could mimic his getting baskets to know for sure. But I think I'm right, and that how you can learn spells so fast." Then it hit her. "And why Neville has so much trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at him." They turned to watch Neville trying to lift his feather.

"What about it?"

"See where he's looking?"

_He's still watching his hand, not the feather._

"I still don't get it."

"Just stay here, I'll be back shortly."

Even Susan's magic needed her to see the target in most cases. She couldn't cast her _Telekinesis _spell on something hidden out of sight, even if it was in the same room as her. Obviously spells that found things or provided information targeted her, rather then the thing she was getting information about. She had to assume wanded magic worked the same way. Without looking at the target, she doubted he would ever succeed in casting anything, and she thought she knew why.

"Neville," she said, going over to him, "I think I know why you haven't been able to do this spell, while most people can. Would you be willing to try something for me?"

"Uh, sure?" he said doubtfully.

"That's the spirit. Put your wand down, that's it. Now, close your eyes."

"What?" He sounded shocked.

"I'm not going to hurt you, just do it."

"Okay…"

"Now, touch your nose with your pinky."

"Is this really necessary?"

"Can you just do it?"

"Uh…" He tried, and failed, confirming Susan's suspicions.

"Yup, thought so. You can open your eyes, Neville. Professor?"

"Yes Susan?"

"We need to take a little trip to see Madam Pomfrey."

"Has Neville hurt himself ag- I mean, of course, go ahead."

"Is something-"

"Shhh, I'll tell you in a second."

Once out of the classroom, Neville trudged along after Susan. She noticed he kept his eyes on his feet while he walked.

"You can't look up when you walk, can you?" she asked kindly.

"I always trip on things when I do."

"I'm not surprised. Neville, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but I think you have brain damage."

"What?"

"Those here in the wand- in the wizarding world wouldn't notice, of course. They're all worried about curses and jinxes and whatnot. So a simple thing like a _boy not being able to touch his nose with his eyes closed_ would sail right past them. That's why you're rubbish at everything."

"There's an actual reason for that?"

"Yup. And hopefully we can fix it. I don't know what exactly the name of the condition is, but I remember reading about it once. We Ravenclaws and our books, you know?"

He gave a week laugh. "Yeah. I wish I could have been in Gryffindor like Harry and Ron, but I'm just so useless!"

"Maybe we can get you reSorted, I don't know. The point is, you're not useless, Neville. I'm sure that's your grandmother talking, not you."

"Yeah, she was always saying if I just concentrated on what I was doing more, everything would be fine."

Susan shook her head. "Honestly, these wizards have their heads so far up their… robes, they completely neglect thousands of years of science, psychology, medicine, the works. Neville, on behalf of the wizarding world, I want to apologize. It did you wrong, and you deserve better."

Neville stopped. "Thank you." His eyes shone with tears.

"Don't get all mushy on me now. Come on."

They made it up to the hospital. "Wait here," said Susan, pushing him down into a chair outside. "I want to ask her something first. I have a feeling she's not going to know… anyway, just wait here."

She went in.

"Can I help you?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"It's about Neville," she answered.

"Oh dear, has he gone and hurt himself again?"

"No, I think… what would you say if a person couldn't tell where their limbs were if they had their eyes closed?"

"Is the patient under some kind of curse?"

_Yup, that's how they think. I was right on that score._

"Nope, it's a strictly physical thing."

"Oh, then I really wouldn't know. My medical training focused primarily on magical aliments."

Susan sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."

"You believe Neville has this condition?"

"I know he does. I just tested him, and he couldn't find his nose with his pinky finger when he had his eyes closed."

"What an odd test."

"I noticed him always looking at his feet when he walked, or at his wand hand when he was trying to cast a spell. I then reasoned he probably had some sort of brain damage and decided to test it."

"Goodness! You're very observant. Do you want to become a medi-witch when you grow up?

_Why should I? A couple of spells is all I need to fix just about anything._

"It's always a possibility," she said out loud. "In any case, if you don't know the condition, you don't have anything that will cure it, do you?"

She shook her head.

"Good thing I do. You've been appraised of my sup- the differences in our magic?"

She nodded.

"Super." She pulled the potion out of her _Pocket Dimension_ and handed it over.

"I made this in potions class. You can check with Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore if you want. It's an _Imbued _spell of Antigen. Basically it will cure any disease. Normally I would just cast the spell over him and be done with it, but we want to keep the nature of my magic secret as long as possible. So this is something he will accept, if it's from you. He understands potions cure things, and he's been given a potion to drink. Only one problem- is this aliment, strictly speaking, a disease or a neurological condition? I'm not sure, but this is the best chance he has."

"Wait, this one little potion could replace…" she trailed off and looked at her medicine cabinet.

"Sorry. Our magic is very different. I would have to make those individually for the patient, were I to open a service of making them. A potions master like Professor Snape could probably brew up a dozen potions in a day and just sell them. It's complicated."

"Well, I trust it does what you claim. I'll call him in here and get him to drink it."

"Great! HEY NEVILLE!" she shouted.

He stuck his head in, and she motioned him to come forward.

Neville stood, looking down at himself after he drank the potion, as magical light played about him. It vanished.

"How do you feel?" asked Susan.

"Different," said Neville. "Weird. Like I've just gotten a new sense." He held his hand up and flexed it, then closed his eyes. They shot open again. "I can tell!" he said excitedly. "I think it worked. I can feel-" He closed his eyes again and took a step forward. "Yes, I can walk without looking at my feet. It worked, it really worked! I can't even describe how this feels!"

Tears were flowing down his cheeks. "Thank you so much, both of you! If you hadn't noticed I would have been like that forever!"

"It might take some getting used to," said Pomfrey. "Most of us have that sense of body from the time we're born, so you'll have some catching up to do."

"I don't care. I don't have to look at my hand to know what my wand hand is doing. Quick, do you have a feather?"

"A feather- oh, your charms class?"

He nodded.

"Go on back. I want to have a word with Susan here, she'll join you shortly."

"Okay. Thank you!" He grabbed Pomfrey in a big hug, then let go and blushed furiously. "I'm sorry. I just- Thank you." He hugged Susan just as fiercely, then ran out.

Susan and Pomfrey watched him go, already he was walking upright, and seemed taller for it. More confident.

"That," said Susan, "Felt really, really good."

"I have to admit, that was one of my easier cases. Especially since two minutes ago I didn't know I had it."

Susan took a deep breath. "Well, I'm headed back to class too I guess. Unless there was something else?"

"If you ever make another one of those, I'd like to keep it here, in case someone comes in with something my standard potions can't cure."

"Sure thing. Next double potions class, you'll get the next one I make."

"And what did you say it was called? A newro-"

"Neurological condition. Brain damage, nerve damage, that sort of thing."

"It looks like my medical training has fallen a bit short. I'll have to see what I can do to remedy that."

"You'll have to get some non-magical, that is to say _Muggle," _she said the word with scorn. "Textbooks on medicine. People study the field for years before they're even allowed to treat a patient alone, but I'm sure if you can get through a magical medical training you can at least learn what to look for that's not a magical condition, but is still curable with magic. The best wisdom is knowing what we don't know, right?"

She smiled. "I guess. I wonder…" she seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Would this potion work on someone that had been driven mad, say by being tortured through pain?"

"That's not strictly a disease…" She looked around the room, but none of the beds were occupied. Susan grabbed her book through space and started paging through it. "Sun spells. Sun spells. Wow, grade ten?" She silently read for a moment. "They aren't currently under any magical afflictions or curses?"

"No."

"I suppose if the madness was brought on by the loss of a mental stat, like RESolve or REAson. I don't know, the spell says 'Restore a creature to its whole, undamaged state.' That would, I expect, include damage to the brain, basically taking it back to the state it was in before it was damaged. I honestly don't know. It's a grade ten spell, the toughest there is, and it takes ten minutes to cast. That means it could take me twenty to cast from writings. Difficulty 15, not that it matters. No, difficulty 19, because of the plus 4. What's my rating in Sun?" Her character sheet appeared and Susan glanced at it. "A five. With my maximum energy spent that's a 16 rating. Sparkle could assist, of course. There's a very small chance I could fail, but not by five so it wouldn't backfire." Her character sheet went away again.

"What are you talking about? Where did that paper come from? Wha- Wheeee?"

"Just ignore me. I'm just thinking through the technical details of casting this spell. It would be tough, but I could do it. I couldn't guarantee the spell would cure madness, because I've never attempted the spell or cured madness. I would however be willing to make the attempt."

"Seriously?"

"I am always serious. Sometimes jovial. Occasionally whimsical. But always serious. Why?"

"You wouldn't be able to tell anyone, but of course you're already trying to keep your magic a secret, so… I had better ask the Headmaster's advice in this matter." She waved a wand, and a glowing buffalo appeared and raced through the ceiling.

"I saw professor McGonagall do that. Is it some sort of _Magical Ally _spell?"

"It's a Patronus. It protects against Dementors, but it can also be used to send messages very quickly."

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Albus stood there, a phoenix on his shoulder.

_Neat trick. And hey, it looks like the Headmaster has his own _Companion_ as well. Cool._

"You said there was an urgent matter requiring my attention, Madam Pomfrey?" he asked.

"Headmaster, I need your advice on a delicate matter."

They moved off to the other end of the hospital wing, so Susan sat down on a bed.

A moment into the conversation he gave a jerk and stared at her. She smiled uncertainly. There was more urgent whispering, and he strode back to her.

"Madam Pomfrey tells me you have just cured Neville of some sort of brain damage that was holding him back from casting spells?"

"Yes Headmaster. He couldn't tell where his extremities were without looking. It's rare, I think, in the non-magical world, so I'm sure it's almost nonexistent here. But as it stood, he would never have been able to perform the wand movement and sight his target, and thus, perform magic."

"Admirable, to have picked up on it. But she further tells me you have a spell you believe might actually… cure madness?"

"The description is unclear. It's a level ten spell, the most difficult I can ever cast, so it's on par with spells that can create legions of warriors out of nothing or make someone immortal. So I would have to-"

"Your magic can bring immortality!?"

"Uh, yeah. It's called _Senescent Cessation, _and it takes a full twenty four hours to enact. If you get it wrong, you die. Let me guess, no such spell for wanded wizards?"

"There is only one means of living forever, and it is currently being guarded in this very castle. I may ask for your help in protecting it, if your magic is that powerful. But that is a matter for another time. Madam Pomfrey has called me here because the boy you have just helped, Neville Longbottom, has a secret. She wanted to ask me if it was all right to reveal this secret to you. I have decided that the chance of their recovery, even the remote chance, warrants telling that secret."

Suddenly, Susan had a vision of meeting Neville in the shop. _What did his grandmother say? Something about their family being hit hard, just like the Potters? And now Pomfrey is asking about madness, and Neville has a secret. Neville was with his grandmother!_

"Neville's parents were tortured into madness, weren't they?"

"You are quick," said Albus, impressed.

Susan shook her head. "No, it was something his grandmother said to me, when we met in Diagon Alley. What you told me was just the missing piece of the puzzle."

He nodded. "Still, I am impressed, and that doesn't happen often. You are willing to make the attempt?"

"Of course! If my magic can help, I am honor bound to do so. I'll need time, I want to spend extra time studying the spell so I get it right. Two days? Would that be okay?"

"More then you can know. Just to put the effort in, and make the attempt, there is no amount of house points I can give you, even if I gave you the house cup every year you're here at Hogwarts."

She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "I'm not doing it for that. Neville has been kicked around by the universe long enough, it's time for some payback."

"Very well. Know that I personally will be in your debt. Not unlike a certain groundskeeper I might name?" He looked at her over his spectacles.

"Don't miss much, do you?"

"You'll find I do not, Miss Felton. Study your book of magic and let me know when you are ready to depart."

"Don't tell Neville, please. I would hate to raise his hopes and then dash them again. In fact, let _them_ tell him they've recovered, and leave me out of it. Neville doesn't know it was my potion, he doesn't need to know it was me with his parents either. If he did, well, it would be uncomfortable, to say the least."

Dumbledore stared at her. "Balance," he finally said.

"I'm sorry?"

"In your history of magic class you will learn what went on before_ the boy who lived_ broke Voldemort's power. It was a terrible war, which used terrible magics. I wonder, if to balance the scales the world has given us you, who will be as terribly good as he was terribly evil."

"Ask me again in a hundred years, because only history will tell us for sure."

"Indeed. But if they do recover, perhaps I could arrange for them to come here where you might see their reunion?"

"I will cry happy tears along with him on that day from the sidelines, Professor."

"Excellent. I shall take my leave then. Come Fawkes." There was another burst of fire, and he was gone.

"Looks like I've made some work for myself. I better go get started. Thanks for everything."

"What? No, thank you!"

Susan was out of earshot when Madam Pomfrey said "Twenty Five points to Ravenclaw, for being you."


	8. Chapter 8

8

Undoing Madness

Time: Three days later

Place: St Mungo's.

It was difficult for Susan to keep from Hermione the reason she was pouring over _Alleviation _so much in the days before she planned to try and cure Mr and Mrs Longbottom. The best she could say was "It's not my secret to tell. If it works out, you'll know why, and I would ask you keep it to yourself. If it doesn't it will be my greatest failure."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not unless I'm interrupted for some reason. No, it's a healing spell. I just am using it to cure something I'm not sure can be cured with magic, that's all."

She finally accepted it.

Susan spent the next two days, whenever she had free time, pouring over the extremely long spell. She and Sparkle assisted each other in reading it over, and Susan was confident she could cast it when the time came. She approached the Headmaster.

"Headmaster, I believe we are ready to attempt the spell."

"Excellent. There are certain people I must inform, would tomorrow morning be acceptable?"

"Certainly. I must warn you, this spell cannot be interrupted. I will want at least a half an hour of time to work in, if not more. I tell you this so the Longbottoms can be restrained or sedated before I arrive, should their madness require it. I don't recommend any sleeping potions or anything like that, because I want them to be as free of wand magic as possible. If the spell works they'll be cleared of all poisons anyway, and wake up right away. Can you pass that along as well?"

"Of course. Will there be anything else you require?"

"Actually, yes. A drop of glue will enhance the spell."

"Pardon?"

"I can use physical objects as a kind of fuel for my spells. They get consumed in the casting, and usually aren't handy enough to bother with. But with something like this, every little bit will help."

"That's why you needed that wet cloth to make the healing potion?"

"Right. _Imbuing _requires the _Enhancer_, just casting the spell makes it optional."

"I see. I will have a glue bottle waiting for you there."

"Thank you."

And so the moment arrived. Susan and Sparkle nervously walked in with Albus, Fawkes on his shoulder.

When she woke up that morning she discovered something different about herself- there was something written in the "Cards" box on her character sheet. Despite not ever seeing anything there, she instinctively knew how to use these cards. Sadly, the fates were not with her, and only card 5, _What a Rush! _seemed to have any relevance. To make matters worse, Sparkle had it. Not that it wasn't easy enough for her to play it on Susan's behalf, of course, every little bit would help.

She wondered why now, suddenly, she and Sparkle had received cards, but Sparkle could only guess.

"Maybe it's because we could actually fail this, and whatever entity gives out cards knows it?"

"I don't know. In any case I'm turning in my two cards for the 3XP. They're both combat cards, and I don't plan on beating the madness to death. That'll at least give me a success if we really screw something up. You turning in your other one?"

"A missed me? Yeah, I don't expect to be attacked at the-"

"Best not complete that sentence."

"Uh, you're right. Let's go."

"Animals inside my hospital!" a medical wizard exclaimed. "Who let these- Oh, good morning Headmaster."

"Good morning. We are here to see the Longbottoms, as I believe you've been told?"

"I understand about a phoenix, but is the cat really necessary?"

"Yes, the cat is essential."

The man shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. This way."

Susan noticed that the man had a "this guy is crazy" expression on his face, but Albus ignored it.

The four were led to a sort of operating room, with a glass wall dividing two beds from an observation area. This area was full of people.

"Uum," said Susan.

"I apologize, but I had to inform the Ministry of Magic about your plan. As I have been informing them of your progress at Hogwarts. They are quite anxious about the whole thing, though I have assured them of my confidence in you."

"Headmaster," said a portly man in a black hat, "I wasn't aware that your student was quite so… young?"

"I'm sure I listed her age in my missive to you," replied Albus. "If I did not, it was a mere oversight on my part."

"Hem-Hem," said a witch dressed all in pink. Susan took an immediate dislike to her. "Is it your belief, Headmaster, that this young girl will succeed where witches and wizards much older and wiser then her have failed?"

"That is exactly my belief, Dolores. I have seen her do several impossible things with her magic in these few short weeks at Hogwarts, this will merely be the latest. And if I may be blunt, it can hardly get any worse for the Longbottoms, can it?"

Dolores scowled at Susan. "And why has she brought her cat into a hospital?"

"Go and get ready, Susan." Albus said to her. "Leave them to me. By the way, these are Gilbert Wimple, Broderik Bode, Cornelius Fudge, Malfalda Hopkirk and Dolores Umbridge. They are heads of various departs of the Ministry of Magic." Also present were Professor Quirrell, of all people, and several other hospital staff.

"Nice to meet you," Susan said politely. She nodded respectfully and went into the other room, where upon two beds, side by side, slept a middle aged man and woman. They were pale and gaunt, but breathed easily.

Albus stuck his head into the room. "Everything satisfactory?"

"I'll need to move the beds, but I can handle it. Can you cast a charm that will keep noise from that side out of this side? Unless this place starts burning down in the next half hour, _I must not be disturbed._"

"Of course." Albus waved his wand around and Susan nodded her thanks, setting her book down by the glue on the table over by one wall. She didn't bother with getting her wand out, she just cast _Telekinesis _on the one bed, gently lifting it and shoving it over a few feet. Grabbing the glue and her book Susan sat cross legged on the floor, and opened it to the start of the spell. She put a drop of glue on the floor, and looked at Sparkle.

"Ready?" she asked.

Sparkle nodded.

"Here we go." Susan began to read.

Having already made her _Magical Theory _check to understand the spell, Susan only had to re-read the spell again to fix it in her mind. She did, rolling a 21. Taking a deep breath she touched both Longbottoms and focused on the first set of magical symbols. They enveloped the room under the two beds and a column of light illuminated them all. She and Sparkle had talked about it, and decided to take the further −2 penalty, offset by the glue, and get them both at once. As it took a half hour to fully cast the spell she thought one casting at a −6 would be better then two castings at a −4. Time would prove this decision wise or not. She made her _Sun _check, assisted by both the _What a Rush! _card and Sparkle's magic. She rolled an 15 total, exactly what she needed, making her sigh with relief.

With the length of this spell, several circles had to be placed very precisely, and over the next twenty minutes Susan and Sparkle added magical energies, building them up. When the final circle was in place, both said "_Alleviation_" and the magic rushed through both Longbottoms. Both groaned, and Susan hastily closed her book and ran out of the room.

"Well?" asked everyone.

"They're waking up, so the spell obviously worked. Are they sane or not? Only time will tell. But they can't see here me, so I'm just going to go hide. I don't feel like doing any more magic at the moment, or I would just go _Invisible_. Let me know how it turned out."

She ran out and turned the corner, followed by Sparkle.

"She really doesn't want the credit?" asked Fudge.

"I believe she thinks it would cause the Longbottoms to feel tremendously indebted to her. So much so they could never repay her, in fact. This would cause tension, which would promote disharmony between her and Neville. Personally I-"

Susan heard no more, now being down the hall and spotting some chairs she sank down into.

"We almost didn't make it," she said to Sparkle, who took the chair next to her.

"But we did, and that's the point," she replied, looking to make sure no one in particular was paying attention to them. "And you did have that extra XP."

"Yes, but what if they ask me to cure more people around here? I can't just refuse, can I?"

"Don't try two at once, next time. Anyway, It's not your responsibility to cure every person here, you know?"

"But if the magic works, I think it does become my responsibility."

"I don't know. Remember, their magic works differently. They just wave a wand about and poof, the result is there. I don't think they have magic that takes more then a few seconds to cast. They saw you maintain that magic circle for twenty minutes. They know they can't just start wheeling people past you to cure. And you spent maximum energy on it, right? You could do that, what, eight times a day? So even if they wanted you to, you would be physically unable to cure that many people here in a day."

"I just feel like if I can do more, I should."

Sparkle sighed. "I'm just a cat, so maybe my perspective is skewed, but let's take Bill Gates, right?"

"Okay?" _Where's she going with this?_

"How many billions of dollars did me make in his life?"

"I have no idea."

"That's just the thing, maybe he doesn't either. So there sits Billy, in the middle of his cash pile, right? He won't miss a billion or so here or there, right? So why doesn't he just start handing out thousands of dollars to homeless people every day? I mean, he's got the money, right? He can do some good- why isn't he?"

"You're saying my magic is my money?"

"Exactly. You were doing a favor to a boy in your class. Nothing wrong with that. But it's unreasonable for them to expect you to become a healing machine, because that's not your job. You're just a student. Now if you want to train _Sun_ up to a 10 rating, and learn the spell, and take fifteen minutes to cast it instead of ten, you wouldn't be able to fail it. Then you wouldn't need to put the insane amount of energy in that you did, and could do the spell 80 times a day rather then 8. For now, just be happy in the knowledge you probably did some good today- here's the Headmaster, let's see what he has to say."

Susan turned to greet him, and got up.

"No, no, relax. We all saw you putting tremendous effort into that spell, and that wandless hover charm, or whatever you call it, to move the bed also impressed them. They won't be questioning your magic anymore, I would think."

"How are they?"

Albus seemed to ignore the question. "Would you like something to drink? I myself become quite parched just watching you create all those magic rings around the room. Quite astonishing, really."

"Headmaster!"

"Yes, a butterbeer for the both of us, I think. Nice and cold. Yes, that's just what I need right now."

"He's doing this deliberately you know," Susan said to Sparkle.

"He probably thinks we're cute when we're angry."

"I think we're cute at any time."

"You're right. We're more dangerous when angry."

"You think if we set his beard on fire…"

Fawkes gave a cry, but more of a shout of joy then of frustration. She could almost understand it- _You did well today. _He even brushed a wingtip against her cheek, and warmth spread into her.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Thank you."

"Enough," said Albus with a laugh. "Enough. You'll be pleased to know that for the first time in ten years, the Longbottoms are lucid again. After being told they spent the last decade or so totally out of it are now asking about their miraculous recovery."

Susan grinned widely. "That's excellent news!" Her face fell. "And you told them..."

"That a new type of magic had been tried. I did not, however, tell them it was _wandless _magic. So technically, I told the absolute truth. They are asking to see their son, but the hospital staff wishes to keep them here for at least a day to make sure there are no complications. Perhaps tomorrow at lunch you will see a happy reunion if you are present around 12:30."

Susan thought a moment. "Make it closer to 1:00. Neville seeing his parents again is sure to be emotional for them all, and he gets teased enough. So the fewer kids, no make that the fewer Slytherin kids around, the better."

"You show an uncommon wisdom. Very well. If they are released tomorrow as I expect, that will be the time I bring them to the school."

"Thank you, Headmaster. I do have a question though- why was Professor Quirrell here? He didn't expect me to use some dark ritual to heal them, did he?"

"I confess, I find his interest in healing magic most curious. But I saw no reason not to allow him to be here, and so there you are. Shall we return to school? After the ministry finishes exclaiming over the Longbottoms they will undoubtedly turn their attentions to you, which I think you would rather avoid."

"Right you are, Headmaster. Let's go!"

Susan picked up Sparkle and Albus laid a hand on her shoulder, and the four of them became fire.

At almost one the next day, as promised, Albus and Neville's parents walked into Hogwarts. They were shaky, even though _Alleviation _had replaced their muscle mass, they still hadn't walked purposefully in quite some time. They made their way to the cafeteria, where Neville, now standing tall and walking more proudly- totally dribbled his drink all over himself when he saw who it was.

As predicted, the room was much emptier then it was a half hour ago, and Susan, Ron, Harry and Hermione watched their tearful reunion.

_How would I have felt, _thought Susan, _to be able to visit my parents any time I liked, but to know they didn't recognize me or even know I was there?_

"That's right," said Ron, snapping his fingers. "I heard something bad happened to their family right before the war ended. I guess they weren't dead then."

"No Ron," Susan said sadly, "The dark wizards who broke the Longbottom family did something far worse then just killing. They left a scar upon the family. If they had just outright murdered his parents that would have been closure. This was far more evil."

"And they were your secret project?" asked Hermione.

Susan nodded. "Neville didn't want it to get out his parents were driven mad by torture. I don't know why, they were resisting Voldemort, after all. But I'm sure he had his reason. He can never be told I was the one that fixed them. I want that clear to you, Ron."

"Why just me?"

"Because Harry knew me from before, he understands me. Hermione I can trust because we're friends, and she's already deduced the reason it must be kept secret. So I'm just making sure you understand."

"Fine. But how did-"

"Hem-Hem!" Susan held up a finger. "Never you mind."

Ron gave her a quizzical look. "Okay, okay."

"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"What? Oh, nothing. Just thinking about family, and dark wizards, and all of it."

"I'm sorry Harry. Even my magic can't bring back the dead. There will be no happy reunion for you, I'm afraid."

"Don't get me wrong, I am pleased for Neville. I'm just worried- are the people that did this to them still out there? Could they try again? If I have to fight off dark witches and wizards that followed Voldemort, I still have no clue how. And that attack on you or me at the start of the year, then nothing. What was that about? What if a new dark lord rises? Will I be ready to fight?"

"What can we do?" asked Ron, shoving a tart into his mouth. "We're just kids."

Harry stood up. "I'll show you what we can do."

"Harry?"

"Come on. We're going to see Professor Quirrell."

"We are?"

"Come on, Ron. Hermione, you should come too. You probably won't get much out of it, Susan, but maybe some practice, and you can always use that, right?"

"What's gotten into you?" asked Hermione.

"When I started here I promised myself I would work hard, and make sure the next dark wizard that challenges me finds he's bitten off more then he can chew. Something saved me last time, but I can't rely on that. And as powerful as you are, Susan, you can't always be around to protect me or fight my battles. But what do we learn? We haven't cast a single spell in Quirrell's class yet, but that's going to change. And if it doesn't I'll go to someone else that can teach me. He was always afraid of Headmaster Dumbledore, right? Maybe I can take lessons from him. I have to do something. I won't allow that to happen again." He pointed to Neville. "No more broken families because one person starts ruling the world through fear. Come on."

Hermione was staring at him as he stalked off. "Oh, does someone have a little crush?" asked Susan, poking her in the arm.

Ron was protesting, saying looking for more homework was futile, and to be reasonable.

"Come on, you want to get better at magic, don't you?" Susan asked.

"But, is that really the way?"

"If it really is a magical muscle like you said, exercise it all you can, I would say."

"What about you?"

"Me? I need to learn how wanded wizards fights if I'm going to protect the… people I care about… when the time comes."

Hermione got up. "I- I won't lose to you. In magic or in love!" Her face turned red and she scurried after the boys.

"Ah, Hermione. How little you understand."

Susan rose to join them.

Moments later, Harry intercepted Professor Quirrell in the hallway.

"Ah, Mr Potter! Shouldn't you be getting to class?"

"This is more important then that!"

"More important then class? Why, it must be, as I see Hermione and Susan trailing behind you. Neither of them would be so crass, so disrespectful, so… _naughty_ as to skip a class. What can I do for you all? Oh, and Ron, of course."

"Hello Professor."

"Our class, it is entitled Defense against the Dark Arts, is it not?"

Quirinus almost smiled. "That it is, what of it?"

"That implies learning to defend against, presumably, Dark Arts. Arts implies wizards. Dark spells. Curses. Evil objects."

Susan totally missed her perception check with a 7 to notice Quirinus start stroking the ring he was wearing. The ring had a large, dark stone, and would have felt very interesting had she done a _Magic Sense_ on it. Too bad she missed it.

Harry continued. "But thus far, our class should be more properly called Defense against some Mildly Annoying Creatures I Could Probably Look Up How to Deal With in any Wizard Library."

"You feel that your time in my class is not being well spent, in other words."

"I feel like my time at Hogwarts is not being well spent, Professor. I'm a marked man. The minute I set foot outside these walls the followers of Voldemort will be there to try and take revenge for their fallen master. I'm sure of it!"

"Those sniveling cowards? They had no true loyalty- I mean, yes, you could be right."

_Uh, what just happened? Did Harry wince just then?_

"Sorry about that, I was just wondering what the dark lord, I mean Vol- I mean he who must not be named, what he would have thought about them abandoning the cause after he was destroyed."

"Uh," Harry seemed to have lost the thread of the conversation. "So is there something we can do about it?"

"You want to get stronger, do you?"

"That's right."

"A noble goal. Quite Slytherin, in fact. Though of course a Gryffindor would just call that bravery. Congratulations, Mr Potter, you've just earned your house 20 points."

Harry was taken aback. "I did?"

"That's right. You're the first person to come to me and ask what the heck it was I thought I was doing. Even the Headmaster didn't question my classes, oddly enough. I suppose he was happy to have someone to assign to the post. But you did. Bravo. One has to wonder, as he came to power, if even a single person had asked him "are you sure this is the right thing to do?" would it worked out the way it did? I do have a plan on how to make my classes a bit more interesting, now that you have brought it up. I'll speak to Albus and get things set up. Your next Defense class may be the most important one of your life. Run along, you don't want to be late!"

As Quirinus made his way to his classroom, Harry and the others made their way back to theirs.

"It's going to be _awesome!_" said Harry.

"It's going to be a lot of work," grumped Ron.


	9. Chapter 9

9

Battle Magic

Time: Two days later

Place: A field outside Hogwarts

The castle was buzzing with the announcement that Professor Quirrell's class schedule had been revised, and also that the classroom wasn't to be used anymore. Instead, a portion of the field outside the castle had been roped off in a rectangular shape. Further adding to the confusion was the fact that the schedule seemed to rotate, and various years overlapped. For example, this week the first year students and the third year students had the class together. This combined class was also twice as long as normal. No one knew exactly what the professor had in mind, but Susan and the others couldn't wait to find out. As they approached the field they saw some odd metal poles with glowing orbs atop them, one in each corner of an area that had been marked off. Susan did a _Magic Sense_ on them, as finally getting away from the castle would allow this check without giving her a headache, but she only got a 9 so she didn't get anything.

_I am going to have to improve that skill group,_ she thought.

Quirinus gathered everyone around him from both years, and looked everyone over.

"Welcome to your true Defense Against the Dark Arts. You stand here because one of your number, young Mr Potter here, asked me several days ago when exactly we would start learning to defend ourselves from dark wizards. Because in all honesty, learning a charm to keep pixies away from your tomatoes is hardly useful when a death eater is standing on your doorstep, isn't it?"

There was a general assent.

"But you'll notice that I didn't even bother to set all this up until he asked me. This is to show an important lesson- _speak up. _If you see something wrong, don't just look away. If you see a wrong being committed, inform someone. Would he who must not be named have risen to power if someone had stepped up, before he went too far, and said something to him? Who can say? The fact remains that all of you just meekly accepted my so called classes without complaint. Question! Challenge! Do you understand?"

There was a nodding of heads.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes professor!" everyone shouted.

"That's better. So, exactly what are you to do out in this field? And what are those strange devices at each corner I hear you asking yourself. Excellent questions! Everyone in first year, pull a number from this box over here." He indicated a box set on a small table outside the markings on the ground. "Third years, your number will come from this box. Form a line, quickly now."

They each did what they were told. He stopped Susan. "Not you my dear," he whispered. "I'll explain your role in a moment."

"Everyone has a number? Good. Find your opposite number and stand together, if you would."

They did so, confused.

"So here's the deal. Your task right now will be to hit your opponent with a spell of any kind. Don't worry, it doesn't matter which spell you use, those glowing orbs there have been enchanted to nullify the spell down to a harmless splotch of color. I'll tell you why in a moment. Now for the scoreboard."

He pointed his wand, and at the end of the field, a board started magically displaying all the names of the people within the rectangle. "If you get hit, stop. Later on we'll modify the charm to paralyze that part of your body, so you can fight on even after you get hit. The point will be awarded, and you may return to the starting position and begin again. Now, why any spell? Anyone?"

Several hands went up.

"Yes, you," he said, pointing to an older student.

"So we can practice a variety of spells, but still pose no danger to our partners."

"Correct. Whoever gets the most points at the end of the round gets 5 house points. Any questions?"

Hermione's hand went up. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"We're to fight _third year _students?"

"You have a problem with that?"

"But," she sputtered. "That won't be fair!"

"Fair?" said Quirinus. "Fair. Fair? No, not getting it. Hands up, all of you, that believe the first real battle you'll be in will be… fair."

Not a hand was raised.

"You see, Miss Granger? You will always be outmatched, or outnumbered, or outclassed. Always. The key is to adapt to the situation that presents itself. Every week the battlefield will change. Sometimes there will be cover. Maybe you will have a small team instead of being apart. Maybe it will be two on one. The point is that dark wizards will probably be stronger then you, without fail, because no weak wizards would become dark!"

He paused to let that sink in.

"So yes, the battle here will be a bit one sided, to start. Without an opponent that is superior to yourself, how will you ever grow as a magic user? Observe what the older children do. What works for them? What doesn't? What spells do they use? Are some faster to say? Do they travel faster? Can you block them? Those that score high enough will be asked to demonstrate their techniques in the second half of this class, and then dual each other until all but one are eliminated. Mr Potter has asked for an education in fighting dark wizards, and that is what each of you is being given. Perhaps before christmas break I'll even allow a small group, made up of high scoring individuals to take me on, to see what you're really up against. Does that answer your question, Miss Granger?"

She nodded.

"Any other questions?"

"Yeah, why didn't she get a partner?" asked Draco, pointing to Susan.

"Ah, would you believe because she could already take all of you at once if she put her mind to it?"

"What?" Everyone was staring at her.

_Professor, what are you doing?_

"It's true. She may look like a normal first year witch, but she's actually the reincarnation of a famous witch from hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. The details from that far back are a bit fuzzy. You may have seen the ancient looking book she's always reading from? Well, you might not believe this, but magic was quite different that long ago, before being refined into what you know as magic today. We were lucky to have found her that book, as she can't use the kind of magic we use, and vice versa. She has magic that has been lost to time, and knows many difficult to cast spells. If she entered this little exercise, her opponent would have no chance at all."

_Huh, an interesting explanation, _she thought. _Why didn't we think of that? _Everyone was staring at her, and several that were near her took a step back.

He continued. "That's why some of you have noticed her cat seems to be much more intelligent then a normal cat should be. That cat is actually the soul of another witch who was friends with her in this past life. It's just rather unfortunate she wound up in a non-human body."

Everyone was nodding and she heard several "that makes so much sense" and the like.

_Professor, I could kiss you. This is the perfect cover story, and they even seem to be buying it!_

"Perhaps I'll let a select group have a crack at her sometime. How would that be, Miss Felton?"

"My fighting skills are a bit rusty, but I think I could accommodate you. Maybe I'll even take you on before christmas break, and really give them a show."

"OOOOOOOhhhhhhhh," everyone said, while Quirinus laughed. "I said I liked her spirit the very first time we met. I haven't changed my position. Enough talk. She'll serve as another referee for these games. If she sees anything physical, well, let's just hope she doesn't. Her magic won't be nullified by the charms. Any more questions?"

There weren't any.

"Then move to the opposite end of the rectangle, facing your partner, and spread out. Await the sound of the bell, which will mean to begin, and to stop."

*BONG*

After a half hour Quirinus called a break and handed out drinks and snacks to everyone, and made them select new partners. He motioned Susan over.

"I hope you didn't mind me taking you out of this little exercise," he said. "You said, I believe, that every spell you cast drains your energy?"

She nodded.

"A liability in a protracted fight, even an exercise like this one."

"I have a slight edge," Susan explained. "I just have to see my target, and my magic does the rest. I don't have to aim, and most of my spells would be geared towards stopping a fight with my first spell."

"I figured. How did you like my explanation? I made that up right on the spot. I was just going to say you were going to be the referee, but then it just popped into my head."

"It's brilliant, I wish I had thought of it, to be honest. It totally negates any oddity people would see with my magic, and explains how Sparkle can talk. She doesn't have to hide her abilities anymore!"

"I thought you might be pleased."

"I am. I owe you one, honestly. If someone asks about the circle I just say, I don't know, that's how I remember it working. Or my magic is different now that I came back. Something like that."

"You can work out a full cover story later, as I'm sure you'll get asked questions about your past. I've given you a nice framework to work with, anyway."

"Thank you. I do appreciate it."

He smiled. "Quite all right. Now, let's get back to work, shall we?"

At the end of the class, everyone was a bit exhausted, but exhilarated. Hermione had managed to use her photographic reflexes to figure out how to block spells, and had done so with two or three. Knowing how to block them and actually being able to hit them were two different things. Wands were, after all, a size −3 "weapon" and thus difficult to perry with. Neville had made a decent showing, his confidence growing as the class went on, and he was far from the bottom in points. Harry was about in the middle, and Ron had staged a comeback in the last half hour, but was hardly the best. Still, he wasn't complaining.

"You were right," he said to Harry. "That was better then sitting in that stuffy classroom and hearing about pixies."

"So you aren't sorry I asked?"

"No, I never realized how hard it was to actually hit something with a spell when it's way over there. And then fire off another that's closer but still dodge what's being aimed at you. It's almost as good as Quidditch. How about you Hermione? You did pretty well in points, didn't you?"

"Not as good as I hoped. Books didn't prepare me for that! But I did see several things he was talking about, like using a shorter jinx then your opponent, so you can beat them to the casting. And some he didn't, like turning so you weren't showing your whole body to your opponent."

Then Draco stomped over to them. He was flanked, as always, by Crabb and Goyle, who had done better then average in the game. Susan suspected that they and Draco had started learning magic earlier then they were supposed to.

"So let's see this great magic of yours," he sneered at Susan. "I think he was just making some story up because you can't do magic at all!"

"Come on, Draco. You've seen me do magic in Charms class, and make potions in Potions class."

"I don't know what you're doing in Potions, with those weird circles around your cauldron."

"That's just how it used to happen in my day," she said with a shrug. "I guess the technique changed or something."

"Whatever. That still doesn't prove anything."

Susan mentally reviewed the list of her spells, _Could I show him something impressive? Should I? It would get him off my back, I suppose. Most stuff I know targets me though, like Darksight or Detect Lies. Wait a minute…_

Susan looked around, then snapped her fingers. "There's some loose rocks around Rubeus's Hut, right?"

"I guess," said Draco. "I certainly don't spend time there."

"Wasn't asking you. Hermione?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great, let's go."

Once in front of the Hut, Susan selected a large piece of stone to work with, and cast _Augment Skill _on herself, with _Sculpting_ as the target. Draco looked at the ground as the spell went off. "What's all this?"

"My magic does that. Don't know why."

"But what did you do?"

"Oh, you'll see."

She then targeted the stone with _Sculpt, _and with her new rating of 10 in _Sculpting, _she quickly created a small statue of a dragon, wings unfurled, and roaring as though it was belching flame. She got a 12 on that check, so it looked pretty good. Draco was watching with disgust.

"That's it? I could do that with Transfiguration."

"Really, Draco? You've gone from not being able to change a matchstick into a pin to matching me turn a chunk of stone into a statue of a dragon?" She held out her hands. "I'd love to see that, especially given I'm not holding a wand in my hand at the moment." She spread her hands out in front of him.

"You did that _wandless?_" He seemed shaken. "No, you must have put it away when I was distracted. You're nothing special. Come on."

"I like it," said Crabb (or Goyle).

"Move!" He turned to catch up.

"That was bloody amazing," said Ron. "If I got you a smaller piece of stone, could you make me one?"

"Sure, find a nice piece in the color you want and I'll be happy to."

"Thanks!"

"I think Rubeus will really like it too. Draco was full of it though, there's no way he could have done that in a million years."

"Come on, let's get back. Though I would love to see his face when he sees it."

They all laughed.

—

Two days later, Susan, Sparkle and Hermione were walking from their last class back to their dorm room when an older boy hissed at her.

"Susan?"

She looked over, down the corridor. "Yes?" She didn't recognize him, but he wore robes with the Slytherin house logo on the front. He looked to be in his sixth or seventh year.

"Look," he said, looking around nervously. "I need your help. A friend of mine stupidly tried to get into that forbidden room on the third floor and burned his hand. I don't want to take him to the nurse, he'll get in trouble. You know healing magic, right?"

_How did he know? I've never actually healed anyone. Or is he just guessing because of that story that's going around about me now thanks to Professor Quirrell?_

"I can certainly heal a burn, that's no trouble at all."

He seemed relieved. "So you'll come?"

Susan shrugged. "Why not? Hermione, you want to head back to the room? No sense in us both being seen hanging around that place, even if it is to help someone."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Per- I mean great, just great. Thank you so much!"

"Sure. Lead on."

The boy led her, followed by Sparkle, up stairs and through hallways, over to the forbidden corridor. There was no one around, this place was avoided now, after several incidents much like this one. No one had been seriously hurt, but people had learned it wasn't to be taken lightly.

"So where is he?"

The boy looked around. "He was here when I left. Maybe he got caught by a professor going past while he was waiting?"

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want you to _grab her!" _he shouted, and three more figures appeared from out of nowhere, one of them directly behind her. He reached around to grab her, and she shook her head. In her mind, she envisioned the needed circle for her Pluto spell, and it appeared at her feet.

"_Phase_," she said, spending max energy, as the boy's arms wrapped around her, trying to pin her arms at her sides. The spell went off with a 18 total, even with her −4 penalty for casting it instantly. Her difficulty was a 9, so she phased out of reality and his arms passed right through her. She rolled Energy Boost as a free action, and got two energy back, then smiled as the boy stumbled through her.

He looked back, horrified.

"Let me guess," she said. "Draco sent you. As you can't use magic in the halls without setting off the wards, you figured you would sneak up on me and grab me so I couldn't get to my wand. Then you would just beat me up physically while I was helpless. Am I close?"

"Grab her!" shouted the original boy.

"I can't!" shouted back the grabby one, trying again and again passing through them.

"You thought maybe because I was a girl I would panic, or not be strong enough to resist, is that it?"

"Do something!"

"What?"

"Are you even listening to me?"

All of them got out their wands, but Susan just shook her head. "Really?" She looked over at Sparkle. "If you wouldn't mind?"

Sparkle stopped washing herself and looked over at the boys. Circles appeared underneath them, and Sparkle spoke a single word: "_Thrust._"

All four went flying away from her, as though a line had been drawn between them all. One blasted seven meters down the hallway and crashed into the wall at the far end, while the others were not fortunate enough to have that much room to fly. They crashed into the walls, and Susan heard bones snap. They collapsed to the floor.

"Did you have to use maximum energy?" she asked.

"There were four of them. Casting instantly meant a −6 penalty. I wanted the spell to go off."

She looked the boys over, making a 13 on her First Aid check. One was clearly unconscious, another struggling to rise and holding his sides. One boy's right arm was held at a crooked angle, and the boy down the hallway was already up.

"I think my arm is broken man. She broke my arm…" he looked over at everyone else, and realized it could have been a lot worse. "We've got to get out of here!"

He helped the guy holding his sides up with his left arm, and they hobbled off. She noticed he was favoring his left leg as well, so he must have hit his leg too. The one boy picked up his unconscious companion and glared at her.

"Tell your master what happened. Four big, strong boys like yourself didn't stand a chance against me. And much worse will await him if you try something this stupid again."

The boy didn't reply, just limped off, dragging his friend.

"That was incredibly stupid of them," said Sparkle, watching them go.

"Yeah. Even if they didn't use magic, they would have had to kill me. Anything else, and I would be able to identify them and get them expelled."

"I was thinking more along the lines of facing an opponent with an unknown set of spells at their disposal."

"There is that. But remember, Draco doesn't believe the story, so he still thinks the only magic I know is _Sillyosa, _like him."

"I guess. Are you still phased?"

"I figured I wouldn't waste it. I wanted the magic until I left his corridor, seeing as I'm here and I already cast it. I'm just going to take a quick peek through that door, see what all the fuss is about."

"Is that wise?"

"Nothing can touch me like this, not even spells. And they don't have _Phase_ magic that I can tell, it's a personal spell. So they can't ward against it. I'll be fine."

"You and your curiosity."

"Hey, you have it to, Miss Cat. You're dying to know what's in there, aren't you?"

"Actually, I already know. It was the first thing I did once we got here. I couldn't let that whole mystery go unsolved, you know?"

"What? And you were lecturing me?"

"That's my job."

"Oh, you."

Susan stuck her head through the door, and saw a huge three headed dog lying there. One of the heads blinked at her, and stretched forward, sniffing, and straining against the chain that held it back.

"Don't mind me, I'm just a dream," Susan said, looking around. The chamber was pretty bare, but there was a ring that screamed "trap door" beneath the creature.

"Plus three size modifier?" Susan asked, looking the dog over. "Yeah, probably." She could hop down the door, see what was under there, but she figured she wouldn't antagonize the creature. There may be alarms that would go off if it started barking. She pulled her head back.

"Still just a big dog?" asked Sparkle.

"Big, three headed dog," answered Susan.

"His name is Fluffy," said a voice, and Susan spun around. Standing there was Albus, looking interested.

"I wasn't going to go in!" Susan said. "I was just lured here by four bullies and-" He held up a hand.

"I know, Miss Felton. I know. You handled yourself well, I watched the whole thing."

"You were here the whole time?"

"Indeed. As soon as anyone enters this corridor, I am made aware of it. I knew the three were waiting for someone, I never dreamed it would be you."

"I think Draco has taken a dislike to me, since I was singled out in the Defense class. He wanted me to prove my magic to him, and when I did, I think it made things worse."

"That lovely dragon statue you made Rubeus?"

Susan colored.

"He's still talking about it. He hasn't figured out it was you, so he's baffled as to where it came from. A few more days and I might tell him. As far as your attackers, perhaps it was Draco's doing, but perhaps not. Have you forgotten about the attempt on your life when you first came here?"

_I haven't forgotten, _thought Susan. _In fact I could have used my magic to show me who did it at any time. I'm just afraid that, once cast, someone regretted it, and that's why there hasn't been another attempt. To see the would be killers face might doom them forever._

"I haven't forgotten," said Susan. "But going from a powerful killing curse to a couple of upperclassmen is quite a stretch, isn't it?"

"I wonder. Still, our meeting is fortuitous. You'll recall I wished to talk to you about further guarding something here at the school?"

"What Professor Snape took from that vault when Harry found out his treasure had been stolen?"

His eyes twinkled. "It sometimes scares me that the two most intelligent girls of their class become friends right away. I think the world had better watch out when they graduate."

"You're dodging the question."

"But not for long under your penetrating gaze, I think. Yes, it is to that object I speak. Come with me to my office and we can talk about it some more."

"Very well."

In the office, Susan sat staring at all the contraptions that whizzed and sparkled as he cast charm after charm around the room. She had nodded respectfully to Fawkes, who nodded back, and Sparkle had surprised her by casting _Animal Speech _on it and was having a quiet conversation. After Albus was done (further?) securing his office, he glanced over them.

"You can talk to my phoenix?" he asked Sparkle.

"I have a spell that allows me to talk to animales."

"Oh my. It seems my magic looks more and more inadequate by the day."

"Don't say that, Professor. Without something to compare it against, wanded magic would still be worthwhile. Did I say that right?"

"I know what you meant to say. I wonder, can you tell with your magical senses if someone is in this room now, as we speak?"

"With all the magical devices and such in this room? No thank you, Headmaster, I don't enjoy searing pain stabbing into my head. Everything around here is magical, it would overload me if I tried."

"I see. Pity. I would love to study what sort of 'inner eye' you posses that can feel magic. Now, to our purpose!"

"You want to know what spells I could cast to help protect that tiny object Professor Snape retrieved." She set her book, having gone to get it before heading to the office, on the desk. Retrieving it with magic was fine and all, but sometimes you could do things physically.

"Correct. I only tell you this because, one, apparently your magic can easily make some immortal itself, and two, being of a different kind, it would be harder for a wanded wizard to get past."

"I wouldn't call a 24 hour ritual 'easy', Headmaster. You saw how I struggled with just the half hour of curing the Longbottoms."

"Easy in relation to our way of doing it, that has only been one once."

"Ah. In that case, yes. It does have another flaw, however."

"Oh?"

"If I make myself and, for example, three other people immortal, I become the weakest link in that chain. The spell is _Permanent _but at some level, I maintain it. If I were to be killed in a duel or something, all those people that I had cast it on would immediately begin aging."

"I see."

"Of course, I could work for a few years, making myself immune to magic, physical attacks, aging, dimensional prisons, etc, then the others I made immortal would have less to fear. But that only means someone would have to get creative to kill me. But that's not why I'm here. Let me see what my book has in terms of immediate spells."

Susan spent several minutes looking through the index of her book.

"If you wanted to trap the person who touched the object, I could make it react by _Petrifying _them or even splashing them with acid. I could put _Lost _on the corridor leading to the object. I could make it too scary to touch with _Terror. _Wait, this is already a magical object?"

"Very much so."

"That's no good. I could _Imbue _the box it was in, but I don't know about doing this to the object itself. The magic might react in some unknown way, or just make it impossible to _Imbue. _Let me keep looking. It's tough, because anything I make around the object can just be blasted apart without even getting close."

"Pretend I wanted only to slow someone down long enough for other forces to arrive."

"Is that why the no doubt fake obstacle course under that trap door?"

"Fake? What do you mean?"

"Obviously you're not going to hide the object in the place you've told the whole school to look, right? That's just a distraction. The real object is either back in Gringots, with would be thieves now thinking it's here, or you carry it around with you. Because what could be safer then that?"

"I fear I do not have your devious mind. The object is, in fact, at the end of a very elaborate set of traps under that door."

Susan regarded him a moment. "I see. As long as there were a couple of doors down there I could spell trap them, make them explode with one element or another when opened. Wanded magic users probably wouldn't be able to detect it. If they survived the first one, though, the element of surprise would be gone."

"I said delay them, not kill them!"

"I see. So it's really a trap, not exactly about guarding the object."

Albus stared at her a moment. "I suspect certain forces are moving in this world, now that Harry Potter has returned to us. One way these forces can be strengthened is with the object that lies below in the castle. But I only suspect this, it is not something I know. I want to know who goes for the object, and to what end. If possible I want to capture them and question them, perhaps save them if I can."

"Save them?"

"There are curses that can direct another's behavior. What I fear is far more evil, actual possession by a piece of Voldemort's soul."

Susan turned a few pages and read the description of a spell. _Exorcise- Force a spirit or creature possessing the body of another to leave its host. Grade 6, Sun. Note to self, possession is real in the magical world, learn Exorcise spell at earliest opportunity._

"One element, governed by Neptune is called _Knockout. _It might knock someone out, but then again it might not. Especially if I was a dark wizard after something this rare, I would have many potions of healing and strength and whatnot already drunk or ready to drink when I went down there."

"It is a tricky puzzle, I admit."

Susan thought a moment more, then smiled. "Of course! I was thinking too big. It would only need two charges."

"Charges?"

"I need a piece of paper. I built a spreadsheet to do this calculation for me back home, but without computers around here… Ah, thank you."

She started figuring, "Yeah, that's doable. Would only cost 1XP to make, too, but of course I'm making it for him, maybe I can get away with doing the same thing…"

"You have an idea?" Albus prompted.

"Yup. I'll make you a bag of pocket dimension. It'll have two charges in it, enough to open the bag twice. Once to put the object in, once to take the object out again. The bag will be keyed to a password only you will know, and only your hand will be able to retrieve the object. It'll take me, ugh, eleven total hours to make, but it'll be nearly perfect."

"That is strangely reminiscent of the protection I myself placed around the object. How interesting our minds should run along nearly parallel lines. Very well. I will need to be present while you work?"

"I would rather not lose the one XP on this, negligible as that seems. I don't know at what rate I earn them back, so they are a finite resource."

"And what else would you need?"

"Let's see, a silk or satin bag, no, two of them. One to _Imbue _and one to use as the enhancer. Plus materials costing 60 Sickles." She had realized when making the potion, when not all of her ingredients had been used up, that her magic considered Sickles the "monitory units" rather then Galleons. As it was 17 of them to one Galleon, rather then something sane like 10 or 20, the conversion was a bit tricky. Best to just think in Sickles then, and then the magic figure it out.

"A small price to pay, I think, to protect the object that much more thoroughly. My office will be made available to you over the weekend, if you don't mind giving it up to finish the project?"

"I could work six hours one day and five the next, that's not too big a sacrifice."

"Then I must thank you again. What would we have done without you and your amazing book of magic, I wonder?"

"I'm sure Harry would have saved the day somehow, in that case," she said, winking.

"You may be right."


	10. Chapter 10

10

The Missing Guardian

Time: Halloween

Place: The grand banquet hall

In the weeks following the Headmaster's request Susan had successfully created the requested item and spent a lot of time playing referee to Professor Quirrell's little war games.

As far as the bag went, she insisted Albus cast a charm over her when the time came to determine the trigger word or "some action" that would allow the pocket dimension to be opened. She explained that, even if she were to open it, she would only gain access to her own pocket dimension that was already stuffed with various odds and ends, not his pristine one. She just didn't feel comfortable knowing the words, just in case. He complied, and went off to further protect the object.

The war games continued, rotating through second years to seventh. After each one Quirinus asked what people had learned, observed, or concluded, and some interesting things came out of it.

Susan spent some of her XP on classes, much as she hated to "waste" them in that way instead of learning more spells. She did, however, have to pass Magical History and Herbology class, so XP went into them. Headmaster Dumbledore said that her curing of Neville (who was doing much better now, and had lost his clumsiness and some of his low self esteem) earned her a passing grade in Potions whatever Severus said. She could just continue to make what potions she wanted, and perhaps even _Imbue _some other objects. After all, the Sorting Hat was basically some sort of _Imbuing_ of "Magical Ally" with some form of mental communication, right? And as she was supposedly a reincarnation she would know how the founders had done it, that had been lost to wanded wizards for some time.

She argued quite strongly against Astronomy, which she considered to be useless for any person, and weakly against Transfiguration. She only won against Transfiguration, and only because two spells, which she promised to learn by the end of the year, were so superior. _Shape-shift _and _Creation. _After all, she argued, why turn something into something else when you can just wave a hand and wish that object you needed into existence? As for turning animals into other animals? It was useful for Sparkle when she wanted hands, and maybe as a disguise, but who cared otherwise?

So she didn't get out of Astronomy, but decided just to raise that skill to a 1, and then rely on _Augment Skill _for any tests. Because seriously, Astronomy?

Charms class she had also passed, the Longbottoms having moved back into their home and were trying to put their lives back together.

_Just be glad you don't live in the technological world, _Susan thought grimly. _In ten years we saw the birth of 3D printing, smartphones, GPS, 3D TV… you would be quite behind the times. Magic hasn't changed that much._

Defense against the Dark Arts had a written portion Professor Quirrell said he cared nothing for, and would probably skip making them take anyway. So that class was secure, especially if she could beat him before everyone went home for Christmas break.

And that was her classes taken care of. She spent some time deciding between _Barrier Against Spells, Magic Immunity, and Magic Reflection. _She wasn't sure what a wanded wizard's "casting check" would be, but facing a dark wizard, probably pretty high. _Magic Immunity _and _Barrier against Spells _seemed only subtly different, _Immunity _probably protecting against potions and the like. She settled on _Barrier, _given the slightly lower cost, and the fact was that if someone was forcing her to drink a potion, she was already in trouble.

As she planned, she also picked up _Exorcise _and seeing how effective it was when Sparkle used it, _Thrust _with her last two XP. Sparkle learned _Acceleration_. She knew a lot more support spells, like _Armor of Magic _and _Deflection. _Also, she hadn't planned on it when learning _Silence _but Susan was willing to bet it would instantly nullify any wanded wizard that hadn't practiced casting spells wordlessly.

The whole school had turned out for the Halloween feast, but Susan noticed both Professor Snape and Quirrell were going to be late again. Snape hadn't relented in being generally disagreeable to her and Harry, but at least Neville was doing better. He even seemed less afraid of Severus then before, which pleased Susan.

The bigger surprise was that Ron was missing. Harry told them he said he had a potion to finish up for class and that he would be up shortly.

_Maybe some of Hermione's work ethic is rubbing off on him?_

Suddenly the main doors burst open, and everyone gave a gasp as Professor Quirrell stumbled in, almost falling to the ground. His wand arm hung limply, and he was breathing heavily. His clothes were torn and bloody, and he was swaying on his feet, a bruise nearly swelling shut one eye. Nearby, a Hufflepuff boy got up and steadied him.

"Thank you," he said to the boy. "Must get to the Headmaster."

Albus was already rushing towards him.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"The troll- got loose somehow. It's in the dungeons now, headed this way. Tried to strop him alone. Too strong. Headmaster, I'm sor-" he passed out.

That that, pandemonium erupted. Girls started screaming, strong men wept, and those that scorned the very gods themselves began to whisper a quiet prayer for their blackened souls.

"Quiet!" Albus' voice rang through the hall. Everyone stopped.

"Prefects, please lead your houses back to your common rooms. Heads of houses will secure them from entry once you are inside. Then we will deal with this troll."

Orders given, everyone sprang into action and soon there orderly lines of students walking back to their dorms. Harry, Susan, and Hermione hung back.

"Ron, isn't he down in the dungeons doing potion work?" she hissed.

"Yeah, we better tell the headmaster," said Harry.

"There's no time, we have to go get him. You heard him, their priority right now is keeping the students safe."

"Do you really think we know enough magic to-" he glanced at Susan. "Can you…"

"Sparkle is the one with the buffing spells," she said. "Are they good enough to let us take on a troll if it comes to that? I don't know. And you guys have been working on stunning spells, but only a few weeks-"

"We have try," to said Hermione fiercely. "You remember what Professor Quirrell said? We'll always be outmatched when we go to fight. Always. To win we have to look for openings, and be smart! If we can't outsmart a troll, we aren't worth our wands."

Harry looked around. "All right, let's go. Sparkle can do magic on us while we make our way down there, right?"

The four made their way down to the dungeons, which, for plot reasons, didn't get them caught by teachers. Along the way Sparkle put _Armor of Magic (DTR 10, AR 10, DC 30) _and _Acceleration (Speed +10, REF bonus +10, Active Delay −5) _making her total penalty because of magic a −3. Susan slapped an _Augment Skill _(_wand magic +10) _on the others, not sure if that would work or not. She also checked her character sheet, and yes, she had cards again, thank goodness. Sparkle turned in her _Endless Ammo_, shaking her head, but kept her _Lucky Break. _Susan kept both her _Bonus _and _It's Not as Bad as it Looks. _

The three, now enjoying their newfound speed, raced downstairs to the dungeons, where they hoped to dramatically arrive in time to Save Ron's Life.

All they found was a bloody corpse.

"Oh NOOOOOOO- Wait, that's not a body," remarked Susan, looking closer. "It looks like a bunch of spell ingredients were knocked over, and the darkness and our own fears of what we would find let our imaginations run away with us."

"Looks like you're right," said Harry, looking around relieved. The place was pretty trashed, he hoped it was the troll that had done it, not Ron.

"So where is he?" asked Hermione.

They turned to search other rooms and turned into a hallway with a bathroom one might recognize from a different timeline. However, the four had no time to ponder quantum theory because the collapsed waveform of a troll was down the hall, grinning an evil grin at them.

_It's easily a +1 size modifier, _thought Susan. _And I wouldn't be surprised if it had Tough as well. It knocked Quirrell around, do we have a chance?_

"Ah, crap," said Harry.

"I haven't studied enough for this," whined Hermione.

"XP time!" said Susan, rubbing her hands together. This was her first real battle, and against something this tough? It was sure to gain her lots of it.

"Humans," said Sparkle, casting _Leap. _The battle was on.

The hastily conceived plan was to try and surrounded the creature if they met it, so it wouldn't know which of them to focus on. Susan and Sparkle rolled _Initiative, _and they assumed the others did something similar, and Sparkle beat Susan out, _Leaping _onto the face of the troll and casting _Elemental Touch (Magic) _as she swung at its face. The troll was too stupid to get out of the way, trying to reason out how a cat (_tiny morsel_ in troll language, though just about everything carried that name) just flew through the air. Sparkle felt her attack do a fantastic-

1 damage, to the _No Unusual Effect_.

And she fell to the ground, taking her free movement to scurry between the troll's legs. Her delay increased by 2.

"Ugh rawagh ra!" said the troll. (Why hurt me?)

Susan and Hermione both went next, Susan going for the expediency of _Dazzle _while Hermione tried to also get past it. The _Dazzle _went off with a 14, meaning the Troll gained 10 delay and was blinded by a flickering lights all around its head. It had seen Hermione rushing it and tried a reactive action to club her, but as it was now at a penalty of −12 (-2 for the reactive action), and got a 4 total, which wouldn't hit the broad side of a barn. It wouldn't hit the narrower end either, so Hermione didn't even bother to duck.

Susan's delay also went up by two.

Harry did a called shot with a stunning spell, getting a 18 with his bonus, which the narrator will treat as _Elemental Bolt (Knockout) _with a 4 rating. Sadly, the bonus which Susan applied was to _hitting things with spells _not to _making spells work better_ which she had forgotten in the rush were separate things for wand using wizards. The troll went "Ugh raugha mua rugga!" (What are you doing?) and tried to wave the lights away from its face.

Sparkle leapt to one side, holding her action. She realized she probably wasn't going to be able to hurt this creature, and was going to concentrate on _Deflection _for her friends.

Susan was up again, and decided that club needed to go, so she thought of some new magical symbols which appeared beneath the troll. "_Lubricate,_" she shouted, targeting him. The affect was twofold, as it would cause the troll to slip and loose grip on the club simultaneously. She got a 16 total, while to troll got whatever RESolve check he could against it, which of course failed. The club slithered out of his hand as though it had been greased, and its legs went out from under it, causing it to sit down, hard.

"Raugha mua muhga ra!" (Are you attack me?) screamed the troll in obvious frustration, still dazzled by the earlier spell.

Harry tried another stunner, getting a 14 this time and again hitting. The stunner did another 13 damage.

"Ugh raugha mua muhga ra!" (Why are you attack me?)

"_Elemental Attack Fire!" _shouted Susan, targeting the club. However, with her penalty for casting it so fast and the −1 she was already at, it fizzled by 2.

Both Harry and Hermione cast stunners at the same time, getting a 20 and 19, respectively, getting 7 and 5 damage, for a total of 25 non-lethal damage to the troll.

It bellowed "Aargua! Ra blu algua jug bark! Ikua luna muhga ra!" (Help! Me lost inside crazy castle! Mean kids attack me!)

"He really sounds enraged!" Hermione shouted.

"Keep it up!" Harry replied.

"Wait a minute!" shouted Susan.

"What?" asked Harry.

"We're hurting him!"

"That's kind of the point!"

"But I think he's crying."

And he was. Harry and Hermione both lowered their wands as the flickering lights around the troll's head vanished, and he shook it to try and clear his vision. He stared at them.

Without warning, all four of them stopped blurring and the world sped up again, and like a soap bubble popping their _Magic Armor _went away.

"Guess the magic knew the battle was over," said Sparkle.

"Yeah, I couldn't maintain _Augment Skill_."

"So now what do we do?" asked Hermione. The troll kept sadly trying to recover his club, but it kept slipping out of his fingers. Susan had cast it for "as long as she could see this troll," so it could be maintained.

"Well, Ron obviously isn't down here," said Harry. "But I hate to just leave it wandering around."

"Wish I knew _Immobilize,_" said Susan. "I suppose I could just _Telekinesis _it after us, but it looks pretty heavy."

The three stood and stared at the troll, who was now babbling at them.

"What do you think he's saying?" whispered Hermione.

The others shook their heads. "I don't think _Animal Speech _would work, this creature obviously has a language. We would need the _Communication_ spell, which I don't know."

"Let's just go get someone, Susan can stay here, I doubt he'll try anything, and honestly I'm not sure we were doing all that much good anyway," said Harry.

"What's all this then?" said a familiar voice. They turned around, and a group of teachers, led by Rubeus, no less, came down the corridor.

"We thought Ron was down here so we had to come get him," said Harry.

"He said he would be down here, have you seen him?" said Hermione.

"You've hurt him!" said Rubeus, pushing past them. "There, there, it's all right, I'm here."

They looked dumfounded at him.

"Just because he's big and a bit clumsy and maybe likes to swing his club around a bit doesn't make him a bad person, you know. You didn't have to come down here and attack the poor creature!"

"Rubeus, he's a troll!" shrieked Hermione.

"Misunderstood creatures, trolls," said Rubeus, checking the troll over.

"Are you children hurt?" asked Minerva.

"No, professor. We had enough enchantments on us, even if he had attacked I doubt he could have touched us," said Harry.

"Yeah, it was like he was moving in slow motion. That acceleration spell is really something," said Hermione.

"And Susan dazzled him, and got his club away from him," Harry started.

"Enough, children. This troll could easily have fought back…" Minerva looked over at Susan and Sparkle, who were both shaking their heads. "Well, anyway, it was quite brave, and rather foolish of you to go _seeking danger_. However, you did survive, so I shall both take and give five points to each of your houses."

Susan put up a finger, but Minerva raised an eyebrow and she thought better of it.

"Now, back to your dorms, and we'll see if we can't track down young Mr Weasley, who is probably shivering under a desk somewhere, because he has an once of sense!"

"Wait," said Susan. "I feel really bad now, attacking the troll. I didn't think it would just sit down and start crying. At least let me heal it."

"Very well, Susan."

She finally dropped _Lubricate _and cast _Healing _a few times until the troll looked better.

"Please apologize for us, Rubeus. We did just rush down here without thinking, and it is a troll, you know."

"Ah, he's already forgotten, don't you worry your pretty little head. Now go on with you."

"That was really, really, weird," said Hermione.

"You want to know what's weird? Why was professor Quirrell all beat up if that troll wasn't interested in attacking whatever it saw in the castle?" asked Susan.

"How did it get in the castle?" asked Harry.

"I can answer that," said Susan. "Remember that package professor Snape picked up that day? It's still here, in the castle. It's guarded by stuff, and you heard professor Quirrell. He said it 'got loose somehow' so I bet that creature is one of the guardians. He probably got bored, wandered away from his post and couldn't get back. Of course if Quirrell was after the object and it chased him away… But that's a scary thought."

"How do you know about it?" asked Hermione.

"Headmaster Dumbledore had me create an additional protection for it with my kind of magic."

"Smart," said Hermione.

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"He just called it 'the object' and said he could tell me because my magic could already make someone immortal. So it must have something to do with that."

"Immortality, huh? I'll have to go to the library."

Susan was about to say "Who cares what it is?" but then her curiosity kicked in again. "I'll join you. After we find Ron."

"Yeah, where is that guy?" asked Harry.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Preparing for the Holidays

Time: About half an hour later

Place: A quiet corner of the castle

"There you are, Ron!" said Harry, coming up behind Ron, who jumped.

"What are you- You're hurt!" said Hermione, pushing Harry out of the way and bending down to look at Ron's leg. He had been rather unsuccessfully trying to bandage it, and there was a lot of blood on the floor around him. "You're really badly hurt!"

"It's nothing," said Ron, trying to pull his pant leg down again.

"Nothing? You're bleeding! What happened?"

Susan looked Ron over with a _First Aid _check of 15. He was pale and shaky, obviously he had lost a lot of blood. Also, the wound was obviously done by an _Edged_ type weapon rather then _Blunt_. Almost like giant claws...

"That can wait," she said smartly. "Let the person with actual healing magic through, please," she said, giving Hermione a gentle shove. "This won't help with the blood loss, but at least I can heal you up," she said.

She started casting.

It took two castings, but the wound closed up before their eyes, and Ron visibly relaxed.

"Now let's take care of the mess," said Sparkle, casting _Hygiene_.

"And the clothes," said Susan, casting _Repair._

"Now you can interrogate him," Susan said, stepping away.

"Thank you," said Hermione. "Well?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Let me guess," said Hermione. "You saw the troll, panicked, and ran. You tripped over something and cut your leg up. The troll smashed the potions room up while you went and bravely ran away, away."

"Troll? I mean, yeah, what else could have happened?"

"Why did you hide?" asked Harry. "We had to have Susan bust out her _Descry Creature _spell again. You know how long that spell takes to cast from writings? Ten minutes!"

"Sorry! I didn't want to go to the nurse's office because I knew it would get out that… I… was scared of the troll."

"That's a weird reason," remarked Hermione.

"Maybe it's a boy thing?" said Susan.

"I get enough of it from Draco for who my family is, I don't need to give him any more things to tease me about."

"Boy thing," said Hermione. Susan nodded. "Next time, silly boy, just go find Susan. You must have known she knew healing magic."

"Just leave me alone."

"Okay, fine, just trying to be a friend and everything. Sorry. Come on, Susan." She pulled Susan down the hall again. "Oh," she shouted back, "If I had just been saved from _dying_ by a friend of mine, I would have said _thank you! _But that's just me." She stalked off, and Susan trailed behind her.

"Honestly, that boy," said Hermione.

"Something odd about that wound," said Sparkle. "I'm not sure I buy his story, but what else can we do?"

"There's always the _Detect lies spell,_" said Susan. "But using that against a friend? I don't know. Something's odd, but I can't imagine why he would…"

"Would what?" asked Hermione, concerned.

Susan shook her head. "No, it's impossible. Never mind."

"Okay."

A few weeks later the whole incident had blown over, and Professor Quirrell was healed up. He couldn't explain the difference in how the troll acted between when he saw it and when they saw it, and they let the matter drop. Susan and Hermione still thought it was odd, but odd stuff happened around the castle all the time. Soon it was time to see Harry play his first game of Quidditch as the team Seeker. Harry had wanted some "Susan Magic" to help, but Hermione said that wouldn't be fair.

"Fair?" said Harry, trying to imitate professor Quirrell. "Fair? No, not getting it."

"Then think of it as practice," Hermione said, throwing Quirrell back at him. "You're up against opponents who are better then you. What do you do? Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, discard what doesn't work, and get stronger."

"I guess you're right."

"I usually am."

"So explain this game to me again?" Susan said to Ron.

"You didn't read about it?" said Hermione, shocked.

"Oh, I did. I still don't get it. A sport where the balls _actually attack_ the players? When they are flying _through the air_ on a stick of wood and any fall will be lethal? The ground doesn't even have some kind of spell on it to catch people who fall, and the whole thing ends when one player catches one ball. How does that make sense?"

"You aren't knocking Quidditch, are you?" asked Ron.

"With the entirety of the magical spectrum to draw from, this is the game wizards chose to throw their passions behind?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"You mean besides all the stuff I just mentioned? This game could go on for days or be over in ten seconds depending on the fickle nature of a flying ball. The work the other players do is totally worthless because the ending points are so high. _There is no actual magic involved!_"

"You mean like spellcasting? Because flying about seems like magic to me."

"Yes, exactly like spellcasting. You are wizards, and this was the best you could come up with? I just hope it's better then baseball, that game puts me to sleep."

"Oh, you'll see."

Rubeus came to join them, making Ron and Hermione squish together to fit him. They both looked away from each other. Every time either side scored, Susan just shook her head, because it didn't matter. It was like all the other players were just there as a distraction, while people waited for the two Seekers to head after the tiny ball. It was like a race, only with some uninteresting stuff going on in the beginning and middle. Then the end came in two seconds flat, at random.

"What is Harry doing with his broom?" asked Rubeus. "Looks like he's about to be shaken off!"

"What?" said Susan, looking where he was. Harry did seem to be having trouble, his broomstick jerking back and forth like it was out of control.

"Where is he?" said Hermione, grabbing the binoculars from Rubeus and scanning the crowd. "All the way over there?" she moaned. "Can your magic reach that far?" She handed them over to Susan.

"Who am I looking- Snape."

"Yes, look what he's doing!"

"Muttering, perhaps casting a spell? Crap!" _What spells do I know that can help? Barrier Against Spells is touch, so is Flight, darn it!_

"Do something!" said Hermione. "It's too far to go over and stop him, he'll fall any second."

"I'm thinking!" _Wait a minute… too far? That's it!"_

Susan focused on Professor Snape, and started thinking about symbols. Before her a circle appeared, and she put a bit of energy into the spell of "_Retrieval_!"

She was rewarded with Professor Snape's robes fluttering down in front of her, making him stand up in surprise and shock as he found himself nearly naked in a stand full of people. Naturally, everyone turned to look, and Susan watched him mouth her name, then stalk off towards the exit. Susan swung the binoculars over to Harry again and was relieved to see Harry climbing back on his broom. It seemed to be under his control again, and she handed the binoculars back to Rubeus.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ron said, trying to edge away from the robes.

"What _do _you think it is, Ron?" Susan asked sweetly, trying not to laugh hysterically. Oh, Snape was going to kill her, that was certain, but it was so worth it.

"I think it's what saved Harry's life just now," said Hermione. "Well done."

"A use that spell was never intended for, I'm sure. Still, it did prove effective."

"He's going to murder you!" said Ron, looking at her with horror.

"Oh, I don't think so. Because I'm going straight to Dumbledore after this to tell him what happened. And I'll send the good professor back his robe right now."

She got her book out from her _Pocket Dimension_ and started reviewing _Send Object_, which returned the robe several minutes later, just as Harry was coughing up the golden ball.

"Well," Susan said, snapping her book closed. "I have to admit, Ron, the game does have a certain appeal."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe. Come on, let's go."

Susan made her way through the crowd, but not before casting _Barrier Against Magic _on herself. _If never pays to be too careful,_ she thought.

"And you say he was trying to kill Harry?" asked Albus seriously.

"Hermione?" said Susan, turning to her.

"Yes Headmaster. He was using some kind of spell. I saw him looking straight at Harry the whole time, and he was muttering to himself as the broomstick went out of control. Exactly as I've read about."

"I see. So you, Susan, stopped him?"

"Yes, it was the first thing that popped into my mind that wasn't a touch spell and could reach across the distance between us. Even setting him on fire with _Combust _at maximum energy wouldn't have worked. He was just too far away."

"This is a very serious accusation-" Albus started, when his door burst open and Severus stormed in.

"Albus I insist that girl be expelled imm- YOU!"

"Me," said Susan. "I'm surprised you're still here after what you pulled."

"Insolent girl, you have the gall to sit there, after humiliating me in the stands-"

"Severus," said Albus, steel in his voice. "These children have just come to me with a very serious allegation concerning you. I would like to hear your side of it."

"You know full well I mean the boy no harm. I was trying to protect him!"

"Strange, how that spell that was messing up Harry's broomstick ended the minute you got up and walked off. Coincidence, you would argue?"

"Yes."

"I see," she said, turning back to the Headmaster. "And so it's his word against ours. We know someone tried to kill Harry or myself the night we arrived. Both Severus-"

"Professor Snape," corrected Albus.

"Excuse me, _Professor _Snape and _Professor_ Quirrell were late to the feast that night. _Professor _Snape has been nothing but rude and unjust to both Harry and myself. Professor Qiirrell on the other hand treats us both well. Which is the more likely murder suspect, I might ask?"

Severus was gritting his teeth.

"I trust Severus over all others," said Albus. "Though I cannot explain to you why. If he says he was not out to harm Harry then I believe him. We will have to look elsewhere for answers to this puzzle, I'm afraid."

"And the girl?"

"I'm sitting right here, and my name IS SUSAN."

"I must agree, if you are still holding a grudge because of the wand incident…"

"She is reckless with her magic. She knows and can learn spells that we can't counter or even understand. She is dangerous! You must see that!"

Albus looked over at her, studying her for a time. She didn't lower her gaze. "She does not strike me as reckless," he said at last. "She knows her magic, and she knows her limits. Possibly better then any of us do, given this strange 'character sheet' she can pull from nowhere. I admit her magic is astonishing, but thus far it has only done good. The Longbottom family would drop to its knees in thanks if I were to tell them this young child solved all of their problems. But she wishes no credit, no glory. She studies Herbology and History of Magic with a similar diligence to other students though she has no use for them. She has taken it upon herself to study the differences in our magic, that perhaps one day others like her might be found, or that our spells might be adapted. Reckless? No, I think not.

"She saw her friend was in trouble, and she reacted. One might almost think her a Gryffindor. That action, it must be argued, did save her friend's life. No matter how it happened, I think she can be excused for her… exuberance and unconventional thinking. You yourself did say something was wrong with Harry's broom, after all."

"Fine. I can see you are entranced with this girl. Nothing I say will make any difference. She is not to set foot in my potions class again, is that clear?"

Albus sighed. "If that is your wish, Severus."

"It is. And mark this well, girl. You do not have a wand to break, but if it were up to me, I would not rest until I found a way to strip you of your magic, permanently."

Susan stared into his eyes, then began to laugh.

"You find that amusing?"

"I find you amusing. My magic could do it quite easily, actually. I admit, _Destroy Magic _is a grade ten spell, the most difficult I can cast, but possible. You want me to stay away from you? Fine. Stay away from Harry, or you might wake up one day to find your magic gone- forever."

"You see what I mean?" he said to Albus.

"You threatened her with the same, I see no difference."

"She's a child!"

"And you are an adult!" Albus said, rising from his chair with a look of fury on his face. "You should know better. Now get out of my office!"

Severus paled, then turned and stalked out.

"As for you-"

"Yes?" said Susan, matching his stare. He took a deep breath, lowing himself to his chair again. Hermione was pressed back against hers, and Ron had somehow gotten behind his, and was peaking out from behind it.

"There was only one person that could stare me down," he said quietly, rubbing his forehead. "And in the end I couldn't beat him, either. I just hope your magic takes you down a different path then his did."

"So is that it? What about the attempt on Harry's life? And the one from before? Is he not safe here?"

"He is as safe as I can make him," sighed Albus. "I wonder if that will prove to be inadequate?"

"I hope not. Harry is my friend, and woe to any who would hurt him."

Albus looked at her a moment. "I believe you. I will look into the matter further, but I suggest you do not attend potions class any more."

"Unacceptable," said Susan. "He will then turn his full attention on Harry. At least with me there, there's two of us he hates, so he goes back and forth between us. Without me to act as a buffer, I'm afraid Harry will suffer for it."

"Hufflepuff as well?" he chuckled quietly. "And you stood up to Severus, so there we find Slytherin. The hat must have had a hard time placing you." He gestured to the hat, sitting upon a shelf by the wall.

"I did," it relied. "That I did."

"In any case, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

There was a long pause.

"Can you really do it? Strip the magic out of someone so they can no longer cast spells?"

"Oh, yes. I could stop all magic from working in this entire castle, given a few days. One small man would be no problem at all."

"I see. I am glad, then, that you turn your talents to healing and protecting, and not to these more, shall we say, darker arts."

"Is there anything else, Headmaster?"

"No. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It seems events swirl around Harry Potter even now. He is lucky to have such an ally at his side."

"I'm there to stay, Headmaster. Have a pleasant evening."

They filed out.

"I'm really glad you're on our side," said Ron, looking at her with new respect. "Making Snape back off? Staring down _Dumbledore_? You are crazy!"

"It's my _Overconfident _weakness and my 10 RESolve, I'm afraid. I just can't seem to back down from a challenge."

"There you guys are," said Harry, walking up to them. "I had to slip away from my own party to try and find you. Are you coming back from the Headmaster's office?"

"Oh yeah, we won!" said Ron. "It totally slipped my mind with one of my friends going insane."

"Something I should know about?"

"I won't be coming to potions anymore, Harry. I want you to tell me if Snape is more mean to you then normal, okay?"

"Uh, okay? Why?"

"That's a long story. Let's go back to this party of yours and I'll tell you all about it."

Things went back to some sense of normalcy after that, Susan now spending the time she would have spent in potions class making _Imbued _objects for her friends. She got her ingredients from Albus, but in exchange she had to tell him what she was making- he didn't want dangerous magical items loose in his castle, after all. She stretched the _Imbuing_ rules to the breaking point, as the person she was making the item for had to be "present throughout the _Imbuing,_" which they were, technically. They were in the castle, weren't they? Of course by that logic they were on the planet, and she wondered if she could make something for her mother that way too, but didn't want to push it.

Susan was going to go home for Christmas, and have Harry over too (as she figured the Dursley's didn't want to see him) but then it turned out Ron wasn't going home either. So she just decided to teleport herself back home on Christmas day, but spend the rest of the time at the castle. This also allowed her to leave her gifts for Harry and Ron, just in case they hadn't gotten her anything. After all, Harry was penniless now, and Ron, well, his family might actually be in debt. Best to avoid any awkwardness, she thought.

Hermione's gift she sent via _Send Object_ on Christmas morning, smiling. She hadn't actually included any instructions, so she doubted Hermione would figure it out, but that was okay. It was like two gifts that way.

"Morning fellows," she said good-naturedly, coming up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," they both replied, surrounded by wrapping paper.

"Nice sweaters. They look like +3 resistance to cold, if you ask me."

"Very funny," said Ron. "Thanks for the… what is it?" he asked, holding up his present. It looked like a keychain with a cornucopia at the end of it. Harry held up his, which was similar, but a shield.

"That," she answered, a twinkle in her eye, "is a very special object. As is Harry's. Come on, I'll show you how it works."

She cleared off the table with a sweep of her arm. "Put it there on the table, but keep touching it."

"Okay," said Ron, confused.

"Now say 'food'."

"Food." said Ron.

A magical circle shot out and glowed, and when it was gone, there was a pile of food on the table. It was simple fare, just bread, cheese, dried meat, but she had learned wanded magic couldn't create food for some reason. Her magic had no problem with doing so, and she thought Ron would appreciate it.

"Wow!" said Ron, reaching out to touch it.

"Nice huh? It's totally real, try some."

He picked up a hunk of cheese and bit into it. "It's okay."

"Yeah, it's kind of bland, I admit. But you'll never have to worry about going hungry, anyway."

"Thanks, this is great!"

"There's some limitations."

His face fell. "Oh?"

"It costs you some energy to activate, and I have no idea how much you have, because apparently you don't have a character sheet. But from what I've observed, you have an average RESolve and ENDurance, so you should probably be able to activate it eight times a day. Of course you can always pass it to someone else if you're feeding an army, the magic doesn't care who does it. Also, the food will only last twenty four hours. Then it just sort of evaporates. That's about it!"

"Oh, that's not so bad. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now for Harry's."

He held up his shield. "I wanted something flashy for you too, but I looked and looked at my spellbook and kept coming back to that. It's the same thing as Ron's, a spell in solid form, basically. The one that Sparkle used to save my life the first night here. Your trigger word is shield."

"Does it have the same limitations?"

"Yes. It costs energy, but a third of what Ron's costs. You have to see the attack coming and activate it, it's not automatic. And it won't do any good against anything you couldn't knock away with a shield. But it'll keep most spells from hitting you that I can see, so I figured it had to be that."

"Thank you. You made these the same way as that dragon, didn't you? That stone sculpting spell?"

She nodded.

"I don't deserve a friend as good as you."

"Bah, none of that."

"Show her what you got," said Ron.

"Oh yeah, look at this!"

Harry pulled a cloak from under a sweater. "Watch this!" He swirled it around his shoulders and disappeared.

"Huh." said Susan. "Looks like my gift was outclassed after all."

His head reappeared. "Don't say that. Look how bulky this is compared to what you made."

"True, I could make anything make you invisible, it wouldn't need to be a cloak. Can I see it?"

"Sure," he said, handing it over. The cloth became visible again, and she felt the fabric between her fingers. "What is this actually made of?"

Both boys shrugged.

"I don't dare do a_ Magic Sense_ on it, with all the magic that floats around this castle. But it seems well made. Who gave it to you?"

"We don't know," said Harry. "There was a strange note, but that's it. It's not signed."

"And really, why should it be?"

At that moment the rest of the Weasley family came in, wearing similar sweaters to what the boys had received.

"Morning Fred, morning George."

"Where'd the food come from?" said Fred (or George), grabbing a loaf and tearing a hunk off with his teeth. "Did you guys learn how to get into the kitchens already?"

"Would you believe… magic? Anyway, I'm off to see my Mother, have fun today you guys!"

"Merry Christmas," said everyone.

Harry didn't bother too much with the cloak, that Susan could see. She said she was happy to make him invisible whenever he wanted. But if he did want to go exploring, to count her in. She also wanted to get it away from the castle sometime, so she could _magic sense_ it properly. Items like this were rare in the wanded world, and she wanted to figure out why.

Soon Hermione came back, with a book on a keychain and a puzzled look.

"Knowing you, it's more then what it seems," she said good naturally.

"What if I told you it was just a small keychain with a book on the end?"

Her face fell a little.

"And then told you I was lying?"

"Come on, out with it!" They both laughed. "Okay," said Susan. "Think about some topic you would like to research, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, say the word, 'research' and hold out your other hand."

"_Research_." She was shocked to see a book in her other hand appear, and started leafing through it.

"This is amazing!" she breathed. "And I can research anything with this?"

"I haven't found anything it can't provide information on. It won't answer questions, mind you, but it's like having a portable library at your disposal."

"This is wonderful," she said, hugging Susan.

"Glad you like it. I knew it would be perfect for you."

"Oh, it is, this is amazing. How do I turn it off though?"

"Just consider your research complete for the moment."

The book vanished.

"Amazing."

"Just like the ones I made for the boys, this one takes energy, the most, actually. You'll be able to do it a couple of times a day, at least, but keep that in mind. You could use it to death. If you feel tired after using it a couple of times, wait a few hours or the next day."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Your magic is just so… fantastic."

"Yeah, I learned a few things about it over the break when I went back home. I finally know where my magic comes from."

"You do? Where?"

"Let's go get Harry and I'll tell you, I'd rather not repeat myself, it's a pretty long story."


	12. Chapter 12

12

Susan's Story

Time: Just after christmas break

Place: The great hall

"You really found out where your magic comes from?" said Harry. "How?"

"My mother gave me a Christmas present, of sorts. She said I was old enough now to know the truth, and gave me a letter my father wrote me before he left."

"Left? You mean he's still alive?" asked Hermione. "I thought you said he was dead."

"I said my magic told me she was lying when she said he was dead, but that's not really the whole story. I'll just read you the letter, it'll be easier."

Susan got out a few sheets of paper and took a deep breath.

_My Dearest Daughter,_

_ When you read these words I shall be far away from you, and for that I apologize. I know you have many questions, and hopefully this will answer them. To understand where your power comes from you must understand me, and to understand me you must learn why I journey._

_ It begins with my very world, which is not your own. I'm sure your book of spells has told you that other worlds exist, other timelines, other choices made by those around you. My world is very much like yours in form, but different in substance. We have both a high level of magic and technological power at our disposal, more then what your world seems to possess, as of yet. You may one day match us for technology, but I find the magic here strange. In any case, my world was imperiled. Not by dark magic, or the greed of man, but by some outside force. This force was draining the life out of my world, almost too slowly to notice. Every year the world around us got a little darker, the people a little less cheerful. Doing even the simplest of tasks became a little bit harder to justify. It was as though our entire world was just giving up. By the time we realized it, we feared it would be too late. Through a supreme effort my world created the Book of Magic and the Staff of Power. They selected their most powerful mage (that would be me) and presented these items to him, telling him to go forth and discover the cause of our world's fading. _

_ Our magic had already told us the answer would be found on another world, and so I journeyed to a place quite unlike my home. Arriving there I was stuck by how colorful and bright the world was. For a moment the bright sun overhead blinded me, and I thought about how far gone my world really must be. I hastened to meet the "Lady Inari" who was said to be a powerful force for good, and who would further lead me to the answer. What I found was a white haired child full of mischief. She introduced me to those who would be my traveling companions, as it seemed other worlds were imperiled as well, each uniquely, but with a common thread for those who could travel it. _

_ The first was what you might call a half-elf, complete with pointed ears. The second a youth with strange eyes I learned was a "breath stealer," someone who could live forever, as long as he could feed on the life energy of another. The third was an intelligent dog, who was a wizard not unlike myself. From that place we went on to have many adventures, and save many worlds._

_ Then I found your world, and met your mother. _

_ I had always tried to maintain a distance between myself and those I met, because I knew my presence there was only temporary. But your mother was somehow different. I won't tell you of the great shadow that nearly covered your world, it is unimportant. Know that during my time here your mother and I fell in love._

_ It is hard to speak ill of that union when the result was your life, but I was foolish. All too soon the danger was past, and I had to move on. I had not yet found the answer to the shadow that covered my world, and reluctantly left her side. Of course I promised to return when my task was ended, but we both knew I belonged on my world, and she on hers. I did however give her a way to contact me, one time only, should some emergency arise. _

_ What she called me about was not exactly what I expected. _

_ She was pregnant, with you. _

_ This caused me a dilemma. There would be no one to explain to you how you knew, more accurately, about yourself through your character sheet. None in my travels seemed to possess this ability, it seems unique to my world of Paragon. All indications were that would be a powerful wizard such as myself, but you would have no way to learn magic. None from this world could teach you, after all. With some reluctance I petitioned Lady Inari to allow me to return to your world to rectify at least part of this problem. I gave up a portion of my XP to strengthen the Book of Magic, to allow it to create spells for you by itself, should you need them. Then I left it in your mother's care until you should show signs of needing it. I hope that by doing this I have not doomed my own world to extinction. But I have learned many of the spells within the book in my travels, so the loss is not felt that keenly. _

_ Ah, my daughter. Never have I held you in my arms, or even seen your face. Yet I love you still. Know that you come from a long line of powerful wizards who have dedicated their lives to using their powers for good. Know that the Book of Magic has a part of me inside it, a part that will always be near you. Know that you are unique in this world and your magic can be the stuff of legends. But know this too, the Book was created with the hope of a world inside it. Every time you learn a spell from it, every time you cast a spell from its pages, know that it may be the last remnant of my world. Know that you may be the last child of my world ever born._

_ If I have not returned by the time you read this, I may have fallen. Or my world has fallen. Or Inari has forbidden me travel back to your world a third time. Perhaps one day you will learn such magics to answer that question, if you wish to. I do not regret my appointment to this task. I have seen many wonders, and spoken to many creatures, like dragons and aliens from worlds within the same universe as the world I saved. I would not have traded it, or you, for anything._

_ I am certain you are a daughter to be proud of. Study and perfect your magic. Should you choose to have children, perhaps in seven generations the world will have two different kinds of wizards that call it home. All that can be traced back to you. The child from the dying world of Paragon._

_ Good luck, my daughter. My thoughts are with you._

_ Love always,_

_ Elysian Tarsisis_

Susan wiped a tear from her eye. "So there you have it. That's why I'm so different, my father came from another world. It's why I seem to follow different physical laws then you, like having a _Combat Delay _and a _Health Level. _My mother also explained why, growing up, she didn't like to see my character sheet. It reminded her of my father, who she would probably never see again. She even threw out his picture, it was too painful for her. Also my father brought the kitten Sparkle with him, who he had rescued in his travels but really couldn't take care of."

The three sat, stunned. They hadn't expected this.

"But I know my legacy now, and why I can't turn away from evil when I see it. My father was Elysian Tarsisis, and I am proud of his courage. He left his whole world behind to try and and save them, I can do no less. It's like he said: every spell I cast carries the hope of his world inside it."

"Thank you for telling us," said Hermione softly.

"I thought, as my friends, you had the right to know. I'll be telling the Headmaster as well, I'm sure it will take a weight off his mind that an army of wizards armed with _Destroy Magic _is not about to descend on this world and enslave the wizard population."

"That was some story," said Ron. "Can you even imagine it? Leaving your world, traveling to other ones with a bunch of people you don't even know, but who hold your survival in your hands? What stories he would be able to tell, I wonder?"

"Yeah, he only hits at it in the letter. Talking to dragons! Dragons here are just animals, can you imagine them being smart enough to talk?" asked Harry.

"If you ever want to, you know, talk about it," said Hermione, laying a hand on Susan's arm. "I'm here. You know that, right?"

Susan smiled. "Thanks."

—

12.2

Time: After break, when classes have started up again

Place: Defense Class

"You know, professor," said Susan. "We never did have our little sparing match."

"You were serious about that?"

"Of course. I don't know much offensive magic, but if you'll allow Sparkle to support me, I might be okay. After all, I'm just a helpless first year student, you wouldn't want it to be too one sided, would you?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "And I do want to see how a pro fights. If I'm going to help Harry hold off Death Eaters, I need to be prepared."

"A wise precaution! Very well. I'll enchant up some new barrier posts and we can do it at the end of this week. How does that sound?"

"Perfect."

It turned out news of this event had spread, so many older kids with no classes at the time came to watch. The field had been made into a circle, but still had four pillars with glowing orbs atop them around the edge. They were a different color, and Professor Quirrell, who Susan noticed was acting a little strange, explained what they were all about.

"These will create a magical barrier, so any spells that go wide will dissipate harmlessly. I do take it you want to fight me at my full strength?"

"Of course, there's no point otherwise."

His eyes seem to twinkle. "Excellent."

Both "teams" entered the circle and Quirinus activated the pillars, which caused a slight shimmering in the air around the circle. Neither had their wands out, which Susan was counting on to give her a slight edge, as she wouldn't need to draw hers. She was going to, so that should could keep up appearances, but not right away. As with his exercises in class, the bell would ring at some random point in the next two minutes, signaling they should begin. The match was over when one couldn't fight anymore. She had checked on the way down and found cards on her sheet again, which she hoped she didn't need. This time she turned in _Endless Ammo _with disgust. _Why did that card keep popping up, anyway?_ Sparkle turned in her _Skill _card. _Weird, another one that's popped up twice._

All three waited for the bell, and a hush descended upon the crowd.

*DING*

"Declare, card 30!" shouted Susan, taking a meta-action to use her card of _Power Overwhelming. _She could now spend as much energy as she wanted per action, just in case. Sparkle checked her _Initiative _against Susan's and found she actually went second, and said "Declare, card 39." Time seemed to stop as Sparkle cast _Acceleration_ on them both instantly, negating Susan's higher _Initiative _roll. She rolled exactly an eleven after spending max energy, then rolled _Energy Boost_ for free, gaining 3 back. Her delay was now a 2, so she went up to a 3. Maintaining that spell put her at a −2 to all actions.

Susan, knowing the difficulty of the spell she was about to cast and unsure if Professor Quirrell had _Quick Draw_, used 16 energy to instantly cast _Barrier Against Spells _on herself, rolling more then enough and now taking a −3 to all actions. She wasn't worried. Her delay went up by 2, and she also rolled _Energy Boost _to get 2 energy back.

All three now acted at the same time, so Susan went for her wand at the same time Quirinus did. She had asked Sparkle to support her and not act for a bit, she wanted to see what he would do before they blew him away. Quirinus did indeed have _Quick Draw, _and used it now, pulling his wand. He did not attack instantly, but got his wand into position.

_Who needs skill when you have Acceleration on? _Susan thought to herself, also doing a _Quick Draw, _but untrained. With her +10 bonus to REFlex based skills, she got max, a 19, and had her wand in her hand with no additional delay. She held her action, but did hold up a hand dramatically.

Quirinus attacked, seemingly without mercy, a red bolt of energy sizzling out of his wand and striking Susan. _Accelerated_ to the level that she was, it moved slowly enough for her to get her hand into position. The bolt struck her and harmlessly dissipated. There was a gasp from everyone outside the barrier.

Susan now struck, calling out "_Elemental Attack (Fire)" _and rolling a 10 total. Quirinus saw a bolt of fire now heading for him, and waved his wand, shooting out a stream of water. The water and fire met, and annihilated each other. Susan grinned, but Quirinus seemed to scowl.

_Weird, I thought he would enjoy this more. Let's see what he does next._

He again shot the red bolt of energy out of his wand, which Susan figured she would allow to miss her, this time, and made a dodge check. She got a 16 with her −3, and easily dodged, the spell slamming into the magical barrier surrounding them. It crackled and sparked, and the people near it pulled back, alarmed.

She cast _Elemental Attack _again, but this time Quirinus waved his wand and sent it flying back at her, again harmlessly dissipating.

_Good idea, but I'm immune to my own magic now as well. Let's see what you do with this?_

"Dazzle!" she shouted, branding her wand dramatically. Lights appeared around Quirinus' face, but Suzan had rolled minimum so he was able to shake it off.

He had the initiative, so he struck out with ropes this time, making them appear around Susan and go to grab her. She rolled a dodge, jumping up out of them, getting a 21, and easily slipping out of them. She made a _Gymnastics _check, and spent 4 energy, getting a 15, and easily rolled to her feet again with a reactive action, putting her delay up by a total of 3.

Several people clapped.

_I'm running out of different things to do, better end this with a _"Lubricate!" she cast, targeting Quirinus' wand. She didn't instantly cast it this time, instead taking the normal 2 delay, meaning his next spell went off at exactly the same time, or at least he tried to. Just in case he held onto it (she got a 13 on her check) she cast _Elemental Conjuration (water) _around his head, so as he tried to cast, he found himself unable to breathe. Two and half gallons of water appeared and started falling, but Quirinus was casting on the same action and tried to jerk away from the water that had appeared around him. His wand hand jerked as well, sending whatever spell he was casting wild, where it again crashed into the magical barrier around the field.

His wand left his hand and flew in an arc away from them both, landing in the grass some distance away. Susan lowered her wand.

"Guess I win," she said brightly, but noticed only her spell of _Lubricate,_ which she wanted to maintain "until he lost his wand) had gone away, while her _Barrier against Spells_ had remained on. _This fight isn't over according to my magic._

"You haven't won yet. If I can't use magic I'll just have to do things the old fashioned way." He fanned his robes and Susan saw a knife hanging there. Quirinus couldn't go for it yet, he had just used a free action to speak, Susan still had the initiative.

"Knife!" she shouted to Sparkle, dispelling her _Barrier against Spells _as a free action. Sparkle saw the magical energies dissipate and knew what Susan wanted.

Susan struck a dramatic pose, hands pressed together as they both shouted "Armor of Magic!"

With her penalties she rolled one more the she needed (casting it instantly and maintaining _Acceleration) _but magical energy surrounded Susan, momentarily taking the form of a suit of armor before becoming invisible again. However, that was Sparkle's action, not Susan's, she had merely used a free action to speak a spell, not cast one, and now used her action to cast "_Creation_!" as she held up a hand, dropping her wand.

Of course, she had to spend 25 energy to make sure it went off because _Creation _usually took 15 turns, but a glittering sword dropped into her waiting hand from thin air. There were gasps of surprise behind her.

_Oh yeah! Gaze upon the last daughter of Paragon, oh mortals, and tremble. I really wish someone had been video taping all this..._

With _Acceleration _still up, she saw Quirinus' hand going for the knife, and knew she still had time to cast "Augment Skill" on herself, taking the full time. She immediately knew how to use the sword she had just created with a skill of 8. Quirinus used _Quick Draw _again, this time not doing quite as well, and now had his knife his hand. His eyes blazed.

"Mine's bigger," said Susan, giving it an experimental twirl and holding her action. Quirinus started spiriting towards her.

Susan mentally checked her energy level, which was still a respectable 28, even after all that. _Thank you Energy Boost_ she silently thought, dropping to a guard position.

The two clashed, Susan rolling a 9 (ugh) but Quirinus didn't seem too good with the dagger (_That makes sense, how often does he go around stabbing people?) _so Susan parried him. She didn't actually want to hurt her professor so she held her action again to see what he would do.

Suddenly a voice rang out over the field. "Stop this fight at once!" Susan looked over to see Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall striding towards them, wands at the ready. Fawkes was on the Headmaster's shoulder.

"It's okay," she shouted. "We're just giving them a show."

Distracted, she didn't notice Quirinus make one last attempt at stabbing her in the gut, which harmlessly scraped off her _Armor of Magic. _

"Professor, what-" she started to ask, but Quirinus made a break for it, grabbing his wand and plunging through the magical barrier. He shouted something about a broom and from behind a tree a broomstick zipped out towards him, which he jumped onto and flew away.

"Oh dear, we'll never catch him now," said Minerva, running over to Susan. "Are you hurt, dear?"

"He didn't touch me. What's going on? I could catch him if you wanted. It was just an exercise, he meant no harm."

"I fear that was not who you thought," said Albus seriously. "A student found the real professor Quirrell knocked out in his office and ran to tell me. Knowing you were supposed to be performing your dual at this time, naturally I hurried here."

"Snape!" said Susan. "Headmaster, we must search for professor Snape at once."

"I wish I didn't agree with you," he replied. "Let us away to the dungeons immediately."

Susan grabbed his sleeve, and they became fire, appearing in the potions classroom.

Where Severus Snape looked up from his desk, as the potion making went on around his classroom.

"Never mind," said Susan angrily.

"I thought I said I didn't want to see her back in this classroom, Headmaster," said Severus, standing up.

"I apologize, but Susan's life was in danger a moment ago so I had to be sure."

"I'm glad your faith in me has not eroded to the point where I am made your first suspect in every attempt on Susan's life. Or wait, was I, in fact, your first suspect?"

"I had to _know,_" said Albus. "I will leave you to your class."

"Thank you," he said, sitting down.

"To the field again, Fawkes."

Once again they were fire.

They did not see Severus take a swig of liquid from the flask at his hip.

Everyone was milling around, as Minerva was getting the story about what happened for the 6 or so seconds that the combat between Fake Quirrell and Susan went on for. Everyone couldn't agree on exactly what they had just witnessed, apart from Susan taking repeated bolts of destructive magic like it was nothing and handling professor Quirrell like he was a third grader. Sound effects were often included in the description.

"Headmaster," said Minerva, seeing them arrive again. "I take it he was there?"

He nodded. "It seems our would be killer has struck again, once more hiding in the shadows where our eyes cannot see. Are you certain you are all right, Susan?"

"Not to worry, I was immune to everything he threw at me from the beginning, and my _Armor of Magic _stopped his tiny knife from getting near me."

"That sword of yours is impressive."

Susan looked down. "Oh, I totally forgot! I'm actually rather proud of myself, that usually takes about a minute to cast, and I just did it instantly. Of course, without that card… anyway, is Professor Quirrell, the real one, going to be all right?"

"Yes, he was not killed, simply knocked out. Fortunate that he was found, and that you were more then a match for your attacker."

"I know. I would have ended it much sooner if I knew I was actually fighting for my life just then."

Draco pushed through the crowd of people.

"Susan…" he trailed off.

"Draco?"

"I wanted to… apologize."

"What?" said Albus, Minerva and Susan simultaneously.

"I know, I know. Just, seeing you fight just then. That was, well it was beyond words, and I just wanted to say that you were okay in my book. That's all."

He turned and pushed past a stunned wall of students, back to where Crabb and Goyle were standing.

"Will wonders never cease?" asked Minerva.

"I hope not," answered Albus. "If you are okay, I am going to watch the grounds for who comes back, that may give us a clue as to who our murderer is. For now, class is dismissed."

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked Susan back to the dorms so she could put her sword away. They were impressed, and Ron just kept making sound effects. "I thought Quidditch was exciting, but that was the most heart pounding ten seconds of my life!"

"Knock it off," said Hermione finally. "She knows how good she is."

"It'll be talked about for years, that battle," said Harry. "Maybe they'll stop talking about me for two minutes," he grumbled.

"Why don't you just put that in your pocket dimension?" asked Ron.

"This? Are you kidding? I'm hanging it on my wall, this little baby is a _trophy_. Maybe I'll even do some _Fabrication _on it, make it self healing and higher DTR. Have to learn _Augment STRength _first, though_. _Put a spell or two on it, you know, the works."

"What's it made of?" asked Hermione, touching it.

"Titanium, of course. I only have a 3 STRength, after all. So I wanted it to be light. That's why if I'm ever actually going to use it in a fight, and I very much doubt I am, making it magically harder and sharper would be a must. And I've never actually fabricated anything before, so it might be fun to try. Especially if I can get someone else to pay the XP cost."

"I still don't know what half those words you used mean…" pouted Ron.

"Don't worry about it Ron, it's just my little idiosyncrasies. Let's go get something to eat, all that jumping around made me hungry."

"Now you're talking my language!"

"After that we'll go see how professor Quirrell is doing. You know, the real one?"

"Let's go!"


	13. Chapter 13

13

Wizard Blood

Time: Two days later

Place: The great hall

Two days later Susan was sitting and reading her book of magic in the great hall, alone. Her friends were off doing various things at the moment, and she was idly flipping through her book, wondering what spells her father had learned and used. Various people, who had seen or only heard about her magical duel with the fake Quirinus were more friendly to her, though some just walked a little further away.

Quirinus himself was doing fine, having received little more then a knock on the head. Not, she thought, out of some desire to hurt him as little as possible but rather to make sure the attack wasn't magically detected. Quirinus himself could give no description of his attacker, waking up with no memory of even that he had been knocked out. Also everyone seemed accounted for, so her attacker still ran free. It was troubling, but Susan wasn't going to hide in the face of danger!

She had decided to donate the titanium sword to the school, so Headmaster Dumbledore agreed to pay the "XP cost", whatever that meant for him. She had been working on it a few days, using the _Augment STRength _spell from writing. It just didn't seem worth it to spend the 5 XP to learn the spell herself when she was only going to need it for this activity. She also planned to imbue it with _Augment Skill (sword)_ when she was done, so that whoever picked it up could use it better. She figured she would up the TR on the sword only by one, it was more important that it stay sharp and pristine then be able to cut rocks apart or whatever.

She was surprised, then, when Draco came over to her and asked if he could sit down. He was alone, Crabb and Goyle nowhere to be seen. He seemed a little like a bike without training wheels; a bit uncertain.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

"This may sound weird, but can you tell me about your family?"

Susan rolled her eyes. "I see. Slytherin house is wondering how a first year student overcame the guy teaching Defense, right? So you think, oh, she must have had really powerful magical parents. There's something I learned in life, Draco. Don't ask a question you don't want an honest answer to. So I'll tell you about my parents, that's no problem. But before I do, I have to know- are you sure you want to know? You might learn something you wish you hadn't."

"This isn't about my house, though people are wondering who your family is, because your name isn't one of the old wizard families, that's for sure. I wanted to know, myself."

"Really? It's odd timing, because I just found out myself, over winter break. My mother didn't want to talk about it, but she finally said I was old enough. You're certain you want to know?"

Draco nodded.

"Okay. My mother is a plain old non-magic user. As far as she knows, there's been no magic users in her family ever. My father, however, was special. I'm not sure how true it is, but he called himself the most powerful wizard in the... area he came from. Given what I've learned to do already, I am inclined to believe it."

"You're from a family that was half Muggle?"

She sighed. "Is that so hard to believe, Draco?"

"If you listen to the way my father talks, yes."

"I see. It's something I've wondered about myself, maybe it's time to put it to the test."

"What do you mean?"

She eyed him. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Go find me a seventh year student who has only one magical parent and meet me… out by where Rubeus lives."

"What's he got to do with this?"

"Directly? Nothing. But he does have a rock in front of his place I know is the correct size for the experiment I want to perform."

"Oh. Fine, I'll see you there."

"Great!"

So Susan closed up her book and went to find some 7th year students she knew from fighting in her Defense class, and they agreed to help her perform an experiment. One boy named Matt, and one girl named Liz.

Once there, she got out her wand (for appearances sake) and lifted the statue she had made, to make sure it was moveable.

"Right then!" she announced. "Draco, you don't know anything about these two people, do you?"

He shook his head no.

"Great. We're going to perform a little exercise. I want you all to use _Wingardium Leviosa _and see how high you can lift this rock. Then I'll tell you all what this all means."

So each person, in turn, lifted the rock. As she expected, they didn't all get it up to the same height.

"Excellent!" she said, rubbing her hands together. "Of course this isn't a large sample size and there could be more variables at work here, but it'll do for now. Draco, based on your upbringing, which of these two people would you say had both parents as wizards, and which had neither?"

"I would say the one that got the statue up the highest was the pure blood wizard."

"Okay, but neither of these two got it up the highest. That was Sam, remember? But of the two, you got it up the second highest Liz, are your parents both wizards?"

"No, neither of my parents is," answered Liz.

"I see. What about you, Matt? You did the worst in our little game here, I'm sad to say."

"I have two wizard parents," said Matt.

"And Sam here, you got it up the highest, yes? You are half and half, yes? Draco didn't lie about who he was looking for, or anything like that, right?"

"No, I'm half," said Sam.

"Interesting," said Susan. "What do we make of this result, Draco? Is it actually half wizards that are the most powerful? As I said, we would need more tests to be sure. But one thing we do know is that those like Matt here, with both parents being magical, are not universally stronger then others. That's why I picked all seventh year students. Baring any _Talent_s or _Ineptitudes, _they've all had the same amount of time to practice and so should be at the same magical strength. But we have seen they are not. That suggests that it really is practice, not who your parents were, that determine your strength as a wizard."

"But to really know," countered Draco, "You would have to carefully monitor a bunch of people from when they got their wands until they graduate. Tally up the number of hours each spent practicing, and which spells they practiced. If the results were all over the place, we could say it was some random factor we haven't considered that determined strength in magic. If it was universally one or the other, like all half bloods were stronger, then we would know if it was blood or not. But if it was just hours of practice that made you stronger, well, then I would admit to being wrong."

"I agree, we would need way more data then this to say one way or the other. I just thought it would be interesting to see the results. My theory is that, coming from a half wizard family, Sam here practiced the most to avoid anyone questioning his parentage. Liz has parents that don't understand the magical world at all, and wouldn't push her to succeed in that area, so she probably practiced second longest. Matt, thinking his two wizard parents made him superior practiced least. In any case, we can't know for sure as you probably didn't keep detailed notes on exactly how many hours you spent studying, just for fun?"

They all shook their heads.

"Kinda figured. It was a long shot, but who knows? Thanks for your time, you can all head back now."

They left.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that my father may have lied to me?" asked Draco.

"No, I'm trying to figure out what makes one wizard stronger then another. Not everything is about you, Draco. But it's true that your father may have passed down an erroneous belief that he thinks is true. If I had any lesson here it would be to use your own eyes and make your own conclusions rather then accepting what others tell you as being absolute. Even if it's your father."

"What about you then? Why are you so much more powerful then even teachers?"

"I can't tell you exactly, sorry. My ability with magic is something I inherited from my father, and let's just say he wasn't from around here."

Draco gave her a questioning look.

"Susan!" a voice shouted, and both turned to look. Heading out from the castle were Harry, Ron and Hermione, who was waving to her.

"I'd better go," said Draco. "But if it's okay with you, I'd like to talk some more sometime. Maybe we can think up some more experiments to do?"

"That would be great!"

"Okay. Thanks, I guess. See you."

Draco walked away as the others joined Susan.

"Was that who I think it was?" asked Ron.

"If you thought it was Harry Potter, you're wrong, he's standing right next to you."

"You know who I mean!"

"I do? How did you know I spontaneously became a mind reader? Oh wait, I didn't."

"I'm talking about Draco!"

"Oh him. Yeah, it was. Is that a problem?"

"You were talking to Draco?"

"We were doing an experiment. Apparently a seventh year student with non-magical parents can lift a stone higher then one with both parents being magical. Who knew? I do, because I asked the question and then answered it."

"That's what you were doing out here?" asked Hermione.

"What did you think I was doing?"

"We had no idea," said Harry. "We just got told you left with an older boy and girl after talking to Draco. We didn't know what to think."

"Well, thanks for coming to my rescue, or whatever."

"Actually, we were coming to rescue them," said Hermione.

"You say the nicest things."

"Are they gone?" asked a voice from behind them all, and they looked up and to the right. Rubeus was standing over them.

"If you're talking about Susan, Harry, Ron and Hermione," said Susan, "No, we're still right here."

"Knock it off," said Hermione. "Sometimes I think you've been taking lessons from Ron."

"What are you doing, hanging around here, anyway?"

"I needed your dragon statue. It was the perfect size for my lifting experiment. Why?" asked Susan.

"You just shouldn't be hanging around," he answered nervously, glancing around.

"Spill it, Rubeus, what's going on?" asked Harry. "You're not usually what I would call 'jumpy'."

He looked down at them. "I guess as it's you four there's no harm. Come in and have a look."

They went inside, Rubeus pulling the door tightly closed behind him. It was roasting hot in the tiny room, and there in the fire was a large black egg.

"No wonder you were so jumpy!" said Ron, looking it over. "I would be too, with a dragon egg in my kitchen. Is it, you know, fertile?"

"I think so," answered Rubeus.

"I suppose it would have been a bit of a stretch to hope you were just fixing yourself a very expensive snack."

"What's the deal?" asked Elizabeth. "So it's a dragon's egg, who cares."

"You know what hatches from these things? Dragons, that's what!"

"Really? I never would have guessed."

"The point is dragon breeding is illegal!"

"Well funnily enough, I haven't seen any huge lizard like creatures around lately, have you? So unless he's got them in his pocket, I'm pretty sure Rubeus hasn't been breeding any dragons. Have you?"

"No, won the egg down at pub. Odd bloke, seemed glad to be rid of it, if you ask me."

"The point being, is it illegal to hatch a dragon egg? To own a dragon? Or just to breed them?"

"I'm not really sure…"

"There you are then. This egg could have been produced by wild dragons, for all we know. I would question the wisdom of actually hatching the thing, of course."

"Yes, he lives in a wooden house," said Hermione.

"Are they all fire breathers then?" asked Susan.

"I actually have no idea," she replied.

"You can't really own a dragon," said Ron. "They're too wild."

"A baby one wouldn't make that much trouble, would it?" asked Harry.

They all looked over at the egg, then back at Rubeus.

"I know what I'm doing!" he insisted.

"I hope so," said Susan quietly.

However, in the weeks that passed once the dragon hatched, it didn't really seem that he did. The baby dragon grew quickly, from the size of a large lizard to the size of a newborn horse. This didn't deter Rubeus, who continued to insist everything was fine.

The four had agreed to help him out of friendship (not pity) and while the dragon got along with them, especially Susan, he was still a baby dragon. They pleaded repeatedly with Rubeus to start thinking about where it was going to live, but he would have none of it. Because the dragon was on their mind, they didn't pay much attention on Quirinus who, after recovering from the attack, started to look pale and worn out. He also started being late to class, or not around when people wanted to ask him questions, which did worry them a bit. However, they all had to rush off to dragon sitting in their free time, so they didn't press the issue when he said he was fine.

It was during one of his classes that Ron suddenly stopped trying to tag his opponent and pointed, a horrified look on his face. Everyone turned to look, and there was the dragon, happily running towards the group.

"Oh, giggles," said Harry.

"Yeah, that about covers it," Susan replied, as a hundred pound of dragon bounded up to her and started licking her face. "At least he's still in his happy-puppy stage."

Of course, everyone else had pulled back when they saw a dragon running towards the field, Quirinus included.

"Not to worry," sighed Susan. "He won't hurt you, at least on purpose. It takes them a couple of months to start getting all grumpy and mean."

Quirinus finally decided he should, as the responsible adult, take some action. "Why is there a baby dragon on my practice field?" He looked up as Rubeus, holding a broken leash, jogged up.

"Norbert! There you are. Went to see your friends, did you? Little guy got away from me, doesn't know his own strength yet, I guess."

"You were talking him for a walk?" shrieked Ron.

"He shouldn't be all cooped up, now should he?"

"Rubeus…" said Hermione. "This isn't good."

Half an hour later, with Norbert staked outside Rubeus's Hut, the four withered under the gaze of the headmaster. The fifth towered over him.

"At least no one was hurt," said Albus looking the dragon over.

"Norbert wouldn't hurt a soul!" Rubeus protested.

"It is not the soul, but rather the body of which I speak, Rubeus. Obviously we cannot allow a dragon to live near the school."

"I know, Headmaster."

"And you four, I assume you knew about this from the beginning?"

"I wonder that you did not," said Susan, "As you seem to know most everything else that goes on around here."

Albus' eyes twinkled. "That's not really the issue, is it? Why did you not tell me? Ron, you at the very least should know the dangers of dragons, am I not correct?"

"I'm-" Ron started.

"Hem-hem!" Susan interrupted. Albus raised an eyebrow as if to say "_Really? You're channeling Umbrage now?_" Susan continued. "Rubeus, I seem to have forgotten. So silly of me, can't imagine how it's slipped my mind. What is your title again?"

"I'm Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts?"

"That you are. Like I said, how dreadful for it to have slipped my mind. In other words you are the Gameskeeper, right?"

"Yeah."

"In other words, in charge of animals around the castle, correct?"

"Yes."

"Headmaster, if a student tried to hatch a dragon, then I'm assuming Rubeus here would be the one to turn to when that fact was discovered?"

"Yes, I think that's probably correct," said Albus thoughtfully.

"So if the person we would have gone to anyway is the one telling us that he has everything under control, can we really gainsay him?"

Albus chuckled. "Your logic never ceases to inspire me, young Susan. Very well, no points will be taken from your houses. The fact remains, however, that the dragon cannot stay. You must make other arrangements, Rubeus. Quickly."

"I can't just release him into the forest, but I have no idea where he should go."

"Perhaps Ron can be of some assistance in this case?"

"You mean Charlie? Yeah, we could have him come and pick it up."

"It's settled then. Come Ron, an owl will take too long to reach him, we shall use the Floo network to speak to him directly."

"All right. Be back in a bit," he said the others, trailing behind Albus.

Albus led Ron away.

"Floo?" asked Susan.

"Don't look at me, I'm not from the magical world," said Harry.

"I always thought the name was rather silly. It's a kind of teleportation web, activated through fireplaces," said Hermione.

"Fireplaces? Finally, something sensible out of the wizard world. Hey, think Santa's an immortal wizard and people just think he climbes down chimneys when he's really just appearing in them?" asked Susan as Rubeus and Norbert played fetch with a branch.

Two nights later the dragon, having been crated up and levitated with _Telekinesis, _was taken up to the astronomy tower. Hagrid said he couldn't bear to watch Norbert go, and had said his goodbyes beforehand. Susan didn't mind, the less fuss the better, in her opinion. _Stupid astronomy,_ she thought, waiting for Charlie to arrive on broomstick. Susan "hem-hem"ed over their various burns and took care of them with _Healing, _which the four that came to get Norbert exclaimed over. They loaded the crate up into a harness and said their goodbyes, and Norbert was gone for good.

"And good riddance," said Ron. "Dragons are brutal, you know?"

"He seemed kind of cute, actually. Maybe I'll make Rubeus a _Magical Ally: Major _imbuing that's a dragon to make up for it."

"That would be nice of you, but will you have time with exams coming up?" asked Hermione.

"I have a KNOwledge of 7 and an undetectable spell that makes me better at stuff. What do you think?"

"You would cheat?" Hermione seemed scandalized.

"Hermione, I can do magic. It's part of my very soul. Using it to help pass a stupid exam in a subject I'll never need again isn't cheating, it's inspired resource management. The resource being XP and time."

She just shook her head.

As they came down the stairs, they saw Argus Filtch, the caretaker, coming out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he drawled. "We _are_ in trouble."

The four just looked at him.

"No we aren't, Mr Filtch, it's us. Headmaster Dumbledore has already given us permission to be up to send the dragon away. I'm pretty sure he mentioned it to you," said Susan. "As you were right there when he said it."

Argus' face fell. "Oh, right. Off you go then."

"Thank you."

There was another meeting on the way back down to the dorms, and a rather unexpected one, at that. Quirinus was coming out of the forbidden corridor on the third floor. He spotted them and froze.

"Ah," he said, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Checking on the troll?" asked Susan.

"You, uh, know about that?"

"We know about that?" asked Ron.

"Try to keep up Ron. The thing that's being guarded under the trapdoor? That night of the troll attack, Professor Quirrell said it had gotten loose somehow, remember?"

_Though we never did figure out why he looked so beat up._

"Right you are," said Quirinus, seizing the topic a little too strongly in Susan's mind. "I like to check on him at random times, keeps him guessing. I also bring him little treats now and then, keeps him appeased, sort of thing."

"Sensible. Don't want a repeat of Halloween, do we professor?"

"Quite right, though I'm sure I could count on you four, forgive me, five, I didn't see you there Sparkle, to catch him again if that happened."

"Not a problem."

"So the headmaster told you about what was hidden down there, then?"

"Not what it was, exactly," admitted Susan. "Just that it's a small object that has some incredible magic power."

"It does, at that. Still, why would he trust you with that knowledge?"

"Easy, I'm the one that made the final protection."

"_You_ made that-?!" Quirinus broke off, looking at her intently. "I mean, that's amazing, that he would trust your magic so much. Not that anyone would get by my troll, of course. Well, it's late, I should be going back to bed. See you all tomorrow."

"See you professor," coursed the four as he walked away.

"Okay, someone want to explain that little exchange?" asked Ron.

"It's obvious," said Hermione. "Professor Quirrell is trying to steal the object."

Ron looked shocked.

"But I assume your protection will be sufficient?"

"That doesn't even deserve an answer."

"What is the final protection?" asked Harry.

"That's easy. A _Pocket Dimension_ _Imbuing _that will only function one more time. And only Headmaster Dumbledore knows the password to open it. Though I suppose if he were to die, the contents of his pocket dimension would be released. But I'm sure he's got years left, so don't worry about it."

"But you can open those things, you do it all the time," protested Ron.

"I can open my own, not someone else's. Trust me Ron, that thing is as safe as a brick built pig house."

"That's from _The Tenth Kingdom!" _snorted Hermione.

"Oh, saw that one, did you?"

"Good night!"


	14. Chapter 14

14

Madman's Thinking

Time: Just after exams

Place: Ravenclaw Common Room

It was now weeks later. After the dragon incident everything was pretty quiet, and everyone was studying for exams. Draco had talked to Susan twice more about things, and had promised to keep his eyes open a little more while around his father. Susan was about to make a necklace with _Barrier Against Spells _in it, activated with energy, using her last 10 XP. _It's just too much to maintain myself_, she reasoned, _if I was going into a real fight_. Then she remembered reading about a useful little ditty called _Spell Symbol._ She looked it up and mulled it over in her head. For 8XP she could learn a Neptune spell that allowed her to place a spell into a tiny marking on an object. That object would then allow her to activate the spell and have it going for a specific task, just as though she had cast it herself at the time. The kicker was she wouldn't have to maintain it! She read the description of the spell over and over to make sure she wasn't missing something, but it seemed fairly straightforward.

Step 1: Create a charm bracelet with tiny, removable charms. Out of stone, naturally. She really needed to learn a spell to allow her to reshape metal like that.

Step 0.5: Ask spellbook to research spell to reshape metal.

Step 2: Cast useful spells into _Spell Symbol _and put the symbol on the back of the charm.

Step 3: Activate charms when needed, effectively casting a variety of spells in a single action, and _pay no maintenance penalty for doing so for the duration of the current task._

Step 4: Take over the world.

_Okay, maybe not that last one, _she thought,_ but creating an item like that in a few minutes is way better, and more flexible, then giving up 10 xp for an item that only does one thing, and takes my energy besides. Sure, I would have to "reload" it each time, a trivial bother, really. And as I learn more useful spells, I can just replace the less useful one on the charm, or make more charms._

It was a few minutes until she could breathe again, for laughing, and several of her classmates in the common room where she was reading were a little concerned. Not terribly concerned, mind you. It was Ravenclaw house, after all, and plans to take over the world were a common occurrence. (It wasn't Slytherin house, where they would actually be put into practice, or anything… All just a theoretical exorcise.)

So she did that instead, putting _Barrier Against Spells, Flight, Detect Lies _and _Darksight _on the four charms she made for the bracelet, and made the trigger for all of them touching the chain of the bracelet and saying "four spell."

This didn't work, and Susan made a pouty face.

She found she had to activate each one separately, which was still fine. They could all have the same trigger word, but she had to touch each one in turn. She still used stone though, no sense duplicating the effort, right?

Susan and Hermione sat chatting about how their exams went, and promising to keep in touch (using the _Internet, *giggle*) _over the break when a glowing phoenix swooped in between them.

"Susan," said the headmaster's voice, "I have just been summoned to the ministry of magic building. No doubt this will keep me away for hours, and the _trap will close. _I hope I can rely upon you and your friends to see to the matter."

It vanished.

"Crusty old goat," said Susan. "If you know that already, why leave?"

"Wait, what?" asked Hermione. "What's going on?"

"Professor Quirrell is making his move, apparently. I need to get down to the trapdoor and stop him."

"You? I mean, you stood up to him during your duel, so I guess that would be okay- did you just call Headmaster Dumbledore a _crusty old goat?_"

"You must have been hearing things. Wish me luck."

"Oh no, you're not going alone!"

"I won't be alone. Sparkle!"

"Coming," said Sparkle, stretching.

"You are not just leaving me here after that!"

"It'll be dangerous, are you sure you don't want to sit this one out?"

"I do know my share of magic, you know. Even if it is wanded."

"Okay, it's your choice. Thanks."

"Of course!"

"Do you want to find Ron and Harry?"

"Nah, they're useless."

"I agree. Let's go."

However, on the way, Harry ran up holding a sheet of paper.

"Thank goodness I found you! I had an idea that the stranger that gave Rubeus that dragon egg might have been after a way to get past Fluffy. But he seemed a bit insulted that I suspected him of just blabbing that sort of thing to just anyone, and I came back here. When I got back, I found this in the dorm."

He handed Susan the paper, and she unfolded it. She read:

_I have taken your friend. I will trade his life for the stone._

"We were just on our way there- to come and get you," amended Hermione. "Headmaster Dumbledore sent a message that he would probably try something."

"What are we waiting for, then?"

As they approached the doorway hiding Fluffy, Susan activated her bracelet with a word: "Four Spell". They stood in front of the door.

"Want me to open it?" asked Sparkle. "I know the _Unlock_ spell."

"I do too," said Hermione. "It's _Alohomora_."

"I don't actually think it's locked anymore," said Harry, giving it a light push. It opened. The sight of a dead three headed dog met their eyes.

"Yeah, I don't think he had any trouble getting past Fluffy," Susan sighed.

"Think it was that killing curse?"

"Probably. If you can cast that, why bother with anything else? Especially if you're evil. Which I guess Professor Quirrell is?"

"Good question. It might not have been him that stole Ron though. Come on."

After lifting the trapdoor, Susan cast _Light _and sent the glowing ball down, noting how deep it was.

"I'll cast _Flight _on you guys, we'll just float down, okay?"

The others nodded. Susan cast it on them, having already effectively cast it on herself, and they flew down the hole, hovering above a huge plant that stretched from all to wall. Sparkle she carried.

"Any ideas?" asked Harry.

"I'm trying to remember what kind of plant that is," replied Hermione.

"I could just set it on fire with _Elemental Attack _but the smoke might be a problem."

"Of course, Devil's Snare, that's what this is! I know a fire spell that won't burn it."

Hermione waved her wand about, and some pleasant blue flames were produced that made the plant cringe back.

"Through the hole, quick!" All three flew through and landed.

"Seems to be a noise coming from that way," said Susan, pointing. "Let's go."

They walked into a chamber full of what seemed to be birds, but which were, in fact, keys. It didn't matter, as the door at the other end of the room had just been busted down by force.

"Seems silly to have had these pointless traps, given how easily our mystery man bypassed them," said Harry. It's like they forgot the person after it would probably be pretty good with magic."

"I don't expect… no, actually I do expect Dumbledore knew how powerful someone would be to get in here. Strange. He called this a delaying tactic, but this does seem awfully weak. Come on."

The next room held the remains of a giant chess board. "What do you suppose this was supposed to be?" asked Susan.

"We probably would have had to play our way across. I don't know about you, but I'm rubbish at chess. Ron's good though, he could have done it," said Harry.

"Whoever did this didn't know a thing about subtlety," said Hermione, looking at the smashed chess pieces everywhere. "I mean, if they could do all this, couldn't they have just removed the enchantment on the pieces?"

"Maybe this is all a sort of bragging," said Harry. "You know, for us. To impress us how powerful he is?"

"You could be right."

The next room had a dead troll, which Hermione and Susan felt bad about.

"At least he didn't suffer, in the end," said Susan, half hugging Hermione.

"Why put a creature down here if you're just going to kill it?" she asked sadly.

Further on they were met with flames, and a logic puzzle.

"Huh," said Susan. "I now appreciate the difference between _Barrier against Spells _and _Magic Immunity. _This isn't a magic spell, it's a magic fire. I won't be able to resist it like I do with a spell cast directly on me."

"Can we just solve the puzzle and get through?" asked Harry.

"Already did," said Hermione. "There's not enough of the potion."

"Guess it's up to you, Sparkle," said Susan, picking her up again.

"What, does she know some kind of fire immunity spell?"

"No, something a little different. Look, I can explain later, just each of you take my arm and hang on. We're going to go into a rather weird place. When we're past the fire, we'll come back out of it again. Okay?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "You're going to have to trust me on this."

"We do," said Harry, taking her left arm.

"Of course," said Hermione, taking the other.

"Okay," Susan said to Sparkle, who started casting.

"_Dimension Step, Astral," _said Sparkle, and the world around them shimmered and changed.

"This is really freaky," remarked Hermione.

"Just stay close, the fire isn't that deep."

They stepped through, and Sparkle stopped maintaining the spell, dropping them back into the real world.

"Your spells do some weird things," remarked Harry, as they stepped into the final chamber, drew their wands, and stood face to face with…

Some upper class kid they had never seen. His robes seemed a little out of date though.

"All three of you?" the kid remarked. "Odd, I'm sure I only left enough of the potion for one, which I hoped would be Harry. Facing all three of you, well, the mudblood is of no concern, but Susan… no, I must have you to open the pouch. This boy tells me you can't, but somehow I don't believe him. So it's good that you are all here. Boy!"

They looked, and hiding behind a large mirror in the center of the room was Ron, and professor Quirrell lay next to it, still. Ron came out, holding-

"That's the bag I made for the Headmaster!" blurted Susan. "You actually got past his protection?"

"It wasn't that hard, actually," said the boy. "I saw myself getting the stone and destroying it, and out popped this bag. I commanded this boy to open it for me, thinking he was your friend, so you must have told him the secret. But he maintains he knows nothing. So I brought him here with the headmaster gone, to lure you down so you could get it yourself."

"Wait, did you say destroy it? What it is?" asked Hermione.

"Ugh, a mudblood is talking to me, how tedious."

"_Thrust!" _yelled Susan, flinging the figure back. He crashed into the wall behind him, but it seemed professor Quirrell was the one who jerked like he was hurt, instead.

"Temper, temper," said the boy, brushing himself off. "You can't really hurt me, you know. Though I like that spirit of yours. Where was I? Oh yes, he didn't tell you what it was? A philosopher's stone. The road to immortality."

"And you want to smash it?" asked Harry, confused.

"Of course! Only I, who went through such trials, should be allowed the gift of eternal life. So, please open it so the stone can be destroyed, and then we can get on with our fight to the death."

"Like Ron said, only Headmaster Dumbledore can access his own pocket dimension. The bag isn't even where the stone is, technically. I could make him another _Imbued _object with _Pocket Dimension _on it, and a thousand miles from that bag, Dumbledore could take the stone out."

The boy shook his head. "Somehow I don't believe you. Ron here has told me about the wondrous magic he's seen you do, and your fight with Quirinus was inspired. I think that somewhere in that magical book of yours is a spell to open someone else's _Pocket Dimension_ as you call it."

"Well I'm telling you there isn't."

"I see we must do this the hard way. Boy, Potter's wand."

"Ron, what-" Harry started to say, but Ron said "Expelliarmus" while the boy flicked Quirinus' wand, making Hermione lose hers.

"-are you doing?" Harry finished.

"Yes, faithful Ron," said the boy, shaking his head. "You never suspected him, did you? He's been a sort of double agent you might say. Quite useful to me, telling me of the things you did, and all about your magic. He's been with me from the beginning, haven't you boy?"

Ron nodded, sullenly.

"You see?"

"But who are you? Are you the one that tried to kill me those times? Obviously you were the one that took Quirinus' place when we fought."

"No, that wasn't me. I don't know who tried to kill you, and sadly not even I know who took our place in that match. I would love to get my hands on them, though."

_Our place? _thought Susan, looking over at Quirinus.

Suddenly she could tell she made a _Perception _check, with a 12 result, and saw two fingers moving like he was beckoning her over. She walked over, keeping her eyes on the boy.

"What have you done to him, anyway? I see you've stolen his wand, don't you have one of your own?"

"Enough questions! Crucio!" The spell splashed against her _Barrier_ and splintered away. Susan crossed her arms. "Is that all you've got?"

"I figured you would be immune, I heard about your fight. The question is, did you make them immune? Crucio!" he yelled again, while Sparkle tried a "_Barrier_" spell but sadly, this spell wasn't something you could block with a shield. Hermione screamed, dropping to the floor.

"Stop it, I'll look, I'll look!"

The boy kept it going a moment, then sliced his wand, ending the spell. "See that you do." Hermione gasped and started crying, curled up into a ball on the floor. Harry edged towards her.

"Go ahead, Harry, you may go to her. I am not heartless, after all. Okay, maybe I am."

Susan got her book out of her _Pocket Dimension _and sat down next to Quirinus. She started paging through, knowing full well it was impossible but hoping to buy time. Quirinus croaked out a word: "Ring." She nodded a little bit and started to think. She glanced at the ring, it had a large black stone and seemed to be made of gold. _Okay, so what about the ring? _

Her thoughts went back to something Albus had told her, when she first started making her protection for the stone.

_ "What I fear is far more evil, actual possession by a piece of Voldemort's soul."_

_ Of course! _thought Susan. _That would explain it. _

"You're Voldemort, aren't you?" she asked, looking up.

He gave a little bow. "At your service."

Harry gaped, holding Hermione tightly. "You?"

"Don't look like much now, do I? Not to worry. With this new lease on life the dear professor has given me, I'll be back to my old self in no time."

"Let me ask you one thing," said Susan. "Why did you go bad? Why did you try to destroy the magical world?"

"Bad? Destroy?" he turned to her. "Is that what they tell you about me? Of course, the truth is a bit more painful, isn't it? Tell me, have they taught you about Azkaban?"

"I've never heard of the place," replied Susan.

"I have," said Ron.

"Tell them, then."

"Wizard prison. Full of creatures called Dementors."

"Yes, terrible creatures of death and insanity. And fully sanctioned by the ministry of magic!"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Don't you see, Susan? For them to allow such a place to exist is a thousand times worse then anything I could have done, in my time. Those creatures suck the happiness right out of you, leaving you a useless husk. Many have performed 'the kiss', sucking the soul of a person right out of them. The place must be brought down, and the Dementors destroyed. When I found out about that terrible place I knew I had to act. I knew that I had to take power, because they wouldn't listen otherwise. So I gathered followers, yes, men who could be controlled. Women who enjoyed power. We tried to overthrow the government because _the ministry of magic is corrupt. _No crime, no matter how serious, should result in the kind of torture the ministry has created. Kill those that use curses if you must, but to leave them to slowly rot, the joy and love of life ripped from their very minds? That I cannot, will not, allow for one more day if I can help it.

You, Susan, see the truth of my words, do you not? Together we could destroy that place, I'm sure of it! I can take you to see one of the creatures for yourself, and your book of magic can create a spell to destroy them. Look past the petty minded thinking of those that came before you. Know that my cause is just, and that the ends will justify the means. I swear that!"

"You… make a good argument," said Susan, slowly. Her spell of _Detect Lies _hadn't told her that what Voldemort was lying. "If there is such a place, with creatures like that…" she looked at Ron, who was nodding his head.

"Yes, yes! Now that you know, how can you not be called to action? How could you sleep at night, knowing that men and women cry out in agony each day, that they have not yet died in the night, as they so desperately wish?"

"Okay," said Susan.

"No!" shouted Harry. "Don't listen to him!"

"If he's telling the truth, no place like that should be allowed to exist!"

"Then forget the stone, Susan. Destroy the bag, and never allow Dumbledore access to that _Pocket Dimension _again. It shall be as good as destroyed in any case. Come, we shall leave this school behind and plot the destruction of Azkaban. You and I. We will punish those who allowed such a place to exist, and remake the magical world in our image." He held out a hand. "Come!"

"I guess I can use the _Exorcise," _Susan shouted, bringing her hand down on Quirinus. A magic circle appeared around him, and the spell of _Exorcise _went off, fueled by a meta-action of spending card 7, _Success. _

_ After all, why take chances?_

"NOOOOOOOO," yelled Voldemort, as the ring was ripped off Quirinus' finger and went spinning away. He vanished, and Ron fell to the floor beside Quirinus.

"The thing is," said Susan, getting up and standing over the ring, "You were willing to let someone else die so you could come back yourself. Destroying a place like Azkaban is all well and good, but sacrificing even a single person to do it? No, I'll find another way."

"Well done," Quirinus weakly said.

"Is everyone all right?" Susan asked.

"I'll live," replied Hermione.

"What have I been doing?" asked Ron.

"Imperius Curse, I'm afraid," said Quirinus, struggling to get up on one elbow. "I may have just cast it on you before you got on the train for Hogwarts for the first time. I then, well, he then, commanded you to befriend Harry Potter and Susan, and report their secrets. It's a bit fuzzy, you know, when he took control of me."

"So our friendship was a lie?"

"Only time will reveal that. In any case, we both need to put our lives back together, I think. Thank you Susan. You've saved me, you know?"

"What exactly was that?" Susan looked over at the ring.

"A piece of dark magic, that's for sure. I went in search of Voldemort, thinking I could learn the magic that made him so powerful. I found that ring, and it offered me those secrets. I accepted, but little did I know that as I reached inside the ring for power, he was reaching inside me. I realized too late exactly what was going on, and couldn't take the ring off, myself. I was such a fool."

"Be that as it may, we need to get you out of here and back to the healer's office. You've been through a lot."

"Perhaps nothing I didn't deserve," he said quietly.

"Nonsense," a voice rang from the room with the fire. Albus, Minerva and Severus strode into the room, but Albus didn't have his wand out. "While I might fault your methods, losing knowledge is a terrible thing. And how Voldemort learned what he learned… well, that is possibly a story for another time. Everyone accounted for, then?"

"No problems here, Headmaster," replied Susan. "All in a days work, you might say."

"I should hope not, that would be quite tiring. I see my fears were correct," he said, stopping before the ring.

"That should probably be destroyed," said Susan.

"I fear my magic may be insufficient, I may need to call upon you to do so," he said, carefully not touching it as he whisked it into a bag he pulled from his sleeve.

"I don't think that will be a problem. For now, however, someone should look at Professor Quirrell, though if his soul has been damaged, I doubt even I could do anything."

"Not to worry, I'm sure that with a bit of rest, our Defense Professor will be up and about in no time. Minerva, if you please?"

She waved her wand and Quirinus began to levitate, and she walked back with him down the hallway. Harry helped Hermione up and Severus took her hand, steadying her as she walked out. He cast an odd glance back at Susan, and then was gone.

"My traps didn't give him too much trouble, and I was so proud of the mirror, too. I didn't expect him to actually get the bag out."

"Yeah, what was that all about? He seemed like it was no trouble at all," said Harry.

"My folly was to instruct the mirror to give the stone to any that wanted to find it. Find it, but not use it. Of course, we know now that he wanted to destroy the stone, not use it, so the mirror happily gave it up. Strange how these things work, don't you think?"

"Good thing another layer of protection was put on it," Susan said slyly.

Harry was frowning. "There are more pieces out there, aren't there?"

"Perhaps, Harry, perhaps. We can hope that this ring was one of a kind, but I think that is a faint hope."

"He looked so young, not much older then me."

"Yes, he began his terrible journey towards power fairly young in life, I'm afraid. But think no more of this, Harry. You were victorious, and you have saved a life. Tomorrow, yes, that will be the day of contemplation. But today, live knowing you have done well, Harry Potter."

"She was the one that did all the hard work."

"But did you not come down to rescue your friend, Ron?"

Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm not going to be punished, am I?"

"Whatever for?" Albus was shocked. "Because you were selected to be a tool of Voldemort's? I fear all he has are tools, not friends, young Ron."

"So tell me about that gash on your leg, how did you get that?" asked Susan.

"That? Oh he, you know who, he didn't know what else was guarding the stone, so he had me try to find out. Of course I didn't get past the first room, but I don't know why he bothered. You saw what he did out there." He shuddered. "I've never seen anything like it. I wanted to run but he told me to stay, so I had to."

"Even he knows that a lot of foreknowledge and a little magic goes much further then a little foreknowledge and a lot of magic. But come, this is no place to be. We shall return the stone to the rightful owners and allow them to decide what to do next. A few days of rest for all of you, and it's home for the summer."

"Is what he said true? Does a place as terrible as Azkaban exist?"

"Sadly, yes. The ministry gathered the Dementors there and put them to work, lest they wander the world causing havoc. This keeps them contained, and as long as they are fed, they are… satisfied to remain there."

"They can't be destroyed? Such creatures cannot be natural!"

"They can be protected against, but not destroyed."

_We'll see about that._

"Fine. Let's get out of here."

"We're still okay, right?" Ron asked Harry and Susan.

"Course we are. You were still you when we became friends, he didn't change your personality, did he?"

"No. I'm just afraid I wouldn't have tried to be friends with you if he hadn't commanded it."

"Let's just take it one day at a time from here, and not worry too much about it. I'm sure things will work out," said Harry.

"We have surprisingly similar philosophies," said Albus as they went back through the chambers. All were empty, and they came to the hole they had "flown" down. "Lemon Drop?"


	15. Chapter 15

15

There's another train, there always is

Time: Just after boarding the train

Place: Riding the train home

"You seem depressed, Harry," said Susan. She and her three friends sat with each other on the train home with various levels of emotion. Harry's new owl, bought for him by Rubeus as an early birthday present and which he was calling Hedwig, sat on the seat next to him in his cage.

"Wouldn't you be, going home to them?"

"Hey, you'll have me."

"That's the only thing keeping me going, actually."

"They can't be that bad, can they?" asked Ron.

"You have absolutely no idea."

"You could always come hide out with us, mate. Just have Susan whip you up a spell to shape-shift you into one of the twins, and just never be seen in the same room with both of them. They'll think of 20 pranks to pull in just the first minute of them learning this, so they would be all for it."

Harry chuckled. "Thanks, I wish I could. But for some strange reason Headmaster Dumbledore insisted I return home."

"He was rather strongly insistent on that point, for some reason," said Susan thoughtfully. "Nearly as much as he insisted that the restriction on underage magic couldn't be lifted for just Harry."

"You actually asked him that?" asked Hermione. "Wish I had thought of it."

"Of course. If people are going to wandering around trying to kill me during the summer, I don't want to have to try and defend myself without magic. Oh sure, I could use magic, but then there would be a trial, and I would have to explain things. Losing months of practice just because some wizard, hundreds of years ago, thought kids shouldn't use magic at home is stupid."

"Magic can be dangerous," said Ron. "You saw how many times Seamus set fire to stuff or blew something up."

"Yes, his wand work and pronunciation were both atrocious. Harry, however, seems more exacting in that regard. It brings up a point," said Hermione. "We never did figure out who tried to kill you at the beginning of the year, did we?"

Susan shook her head. "Voldemort said it wasn't him, which means only one other suspect exists. Severus. If you believe a word he said, which I'm not sure I recommend, anyway."

"They did get back to the table at the same time. Odd that," said Ron.

"Quirinus was probably already testing the defenses on the stone, he doesn't have that excuse."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Hermione asked.

"Our suspicions aren't proof, you know. Still, I did break his wand, so in his mind his actions were probably justified."

"Nothing would justify that!"

"If I snapped your wand, here and now, you wouldn't want me dead?"

"I… well… that is…"

"Uh huh."

"I still think you should have told someone."

"Wouldn't have helped. A 3-point enemy is a 3-point enemy, after all."

"You're talking gibberish again, you know that right?" asked Ron.

"No, I think I know what she's talking about. Living next to her all this time has given me a little insight into her character. She's right. She's saying he would be an enemy no matter where he was, so even if he lost his job, or whatever, it wouldn't change anything."

"I guess."

"Trust me, it makes sense from my perspective."

Ron shrugged.

"I can still use the _Research _item you made for me outside school, right?"

"Oh yeah, your little gifts. They can't detect my sort of magic, so use them as much as you like over the break." Susan leaned a little closer to them. "In fact, that's why I plan on learning a spell like _Conceal Magic, _or at least _Imbuing _it for Harry over the summer. Shouldn't take too long, and he'll be able to practice just fine. He can even activate it himself, it's only a grade 4 spell, and Harry Potter better have a RESolve higher then four."

"If they even let me keep my wand the second I walk through the door."

"Oh, I don't think Other Senior has forgotten my threat. If he has, well, I'll just have to remind him, now won't I?"

"Don't do anything rash!" said Hermione, concerned.

"I'm sure a few hours as a toad or something would change his tune quite nicely. Perhaps a mouse? I'm sure Sparkle would be ever so gentle playing with him, wouldn't you?"

"Certainly," answered Sparkle.

"You're terrible," said Hermione with mock disapproval.

"I think Fred and George would approve."

Ron nodded.

"Honestly, I don't know any of you."

There was silence for a moment.

"Pity about us losing the house cup," remarked Hermione. "Between us we scored quite a few points."

"Yes, who knew that Quidditch points were actually house points," said Susan, glaring at Harry. "I mean, honestly, curing the Longbottom family, protecting the stone from being destroyed, saving professor Quirrell's life, getting the cursed ring off him- that doesn't mean much compared to catching a gilded, flying, ping pong ball."

"To be fair, your magic did all of those things. You were just there to, sort of direct it?"

Susan was glaring harder at him. "I suppose you were then going to say that you actually worked for all those points, flying about on your _broomstick_."

"Yes?" asked Harry in a small voice.

"Remind me to find a spell to destroy Quidditch over the summer."

"You wouldn't!" said Ron.

"I wonder," said Susan, taking an interest in her nails. "Still, like the Headmaster said, if they gave me millions of house points, as they should have, it would have been quite suspicious."

"Tell you what," said Harry. "When we get back, I'll ask them to enchant the cup from this year so it says _Ravenclaw _every third Saturday of the month. How would that be?"

The all laughed. _It's was good to be among friends._

"You know what else we never got word about?" asked Susan.

"What's that?" answered Harry.

"Your vault. I would have hoped a bank run by goblins would be more proactive about that sort of thing."

"If I need more we can go back and bully them. Besides, I can use your trick if I really need cash."

"What's this now?" Ron asked, interested.

"Never you mind," said Susan.

"You always say that."

"Anyway, the trail is years cold. Maybe when I'm older I'll put a bounty on the head of whoever stole it and let magical bounty hunters do the rest. After all, 25% of what they said I should have is nothing to sneeze at."

"It just bothers me they got away so clean. Too bad it was coins, I could track it if it was just a single thing. But if they've broken it up and spent some of it, my magic would never track down the whole mess."

"It's no big deal."

"If you say so."

After changing back into normal clothes and exiting the train, the four said goodbye.

"Thanks for getting me free of that madman's control," said Ron. "I hope we can start over next year, maybe become friends properly."

"I'll look forward to it. Write me, okay?"

"Of course!"

Stepping through the barrier back into the technological world, Susan and Harry found Stacy waiting for them.

"Hi Mom!" said Susan.

"Hello Susan, glad to see you're well. And Harry, of course. I've just been talking to the Weasley's, they're Ron's parents, aren't they? Strange questions that man asked me. I'm sorry about your, uh, guardians, Harry. They refused to come and get you. Said I could drive you home myself."

"I didn't expect them here, honestly. In fact I'm glad they're not here. That would just have been awkward."

"Yes, well. Come on then. Where is your luggage?"

"With Susan."

"Oh, magic, right. Going to have to get used to that, I expect."

"You can at least come visit, right?" asked Ron, running after him.

"Send me a picture, Susan can _Teleport _usthere. Same with you Hermione, distance means nothing to us, after all."

The other two promised to keep in touch, and Harry and Susan chatted with Stacy, telling her about all the wonderful things they had seen at school on the way to their car.

She, of course, didn't believe half of what they told her.


	16. Chapter 16

16

Visitation

Time: A half hour after arriving back in Little Whinging

Place: Harry Potter's House

"I'm telling you, Susan, just be… gentle, with the Dursleys," pleaded Stacy.

"But of course, mother," answered Susan sweetly. "Am I not the most dutiful daughter in the world? Who would not dare to disobey in even the smallest thing that was asked of me?"

"It's fine, honestly," said Harry, who sounded like it was anything but fine.

"I'm just going to go with him when he enters the house so that there are no misunderstandings. That's all."

"I don't want to see the place on fire five minutes from now," Stacy warned.

"I shall wait ten minutes then, out of respect for your wishes."

Stacy just sighed and threw up her hands. She got out of the car and went into the house.

Susan called their luggage out of her _Pocket Dimension _and Harry grabbed his trunk to take home.

"You don't have to do this," he said again.

"Oh, I think I do. They need to be reminded that you are not someone to just be pushed around. You faced the ghost of your greatest foe and lived to tell the tale a second time. And until we suppress this stupid magic restriction that's on you, I'm all that stands between you and that cupboard of yours."

"That's what worries me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I remember you saying you had four different ways to kill Other Senior with your magic. You've learned more magic now, right? I also recall that you only had one attack spell, and said the other ways were just 'creative uses' of magic. Am I right?"

"Gee, I've not thought about it, actually. Let me think… I suppose I could crush someone with _Creation. Thrust _them over a long drop. Turn them into a statue with _Sculpt_, but they would have to stand still for that, it doesn't happen that fast. So maybe a couple more ways, anyway."

"I'd be happy to _Dimension Step _him into purgatory, he'd never get out of there," said Sparkle.

"Stop it!" shouted Harry. "I didn't want you to think of more ways!"

"I wasn't serious about killing him, you know. Magic or not, I don't think I could do something like that. Don't worry. It's me you're talking to here, you know?"

"They just bring out the worst in you, that's all."

"That they do. Ready?"

They were at the door.

"Ready," answered Harry, and pushed it open.

"I want all of your school things this inst-" started Other Senior, whose eyes fell upon Susan, standing there with arms crossed. He froze.

"I thought so," she said darkly. "Not so much as a word of welcome. It seems my being away has made you bold, Mr Dursley."

"There… will be… no magic-"

"Honestly, what has magic ever done to you?" asked Susan, pushing past Harry and stalking towards Senior. "Now, Harry's Aunt I can understand, she lost a sister to magic. A sister who died _heroically _and _tragically _I might add, protecting her son." She glared into the other room, where Wife was standing. "But you… I've never been able to figure that out. How did you even know about magic? You didn't react with suspicion to the realization that Harry was a wizard, you accepted it on faith. Like you had been told, years ago, that magic was real. Why this hatred of something that doesn't seem to influence your life at all? It just makes no sense. It's like hating My Little Pony but you've never actually seen any episodes."

"That's none of your business."

"I see. I suppose not. Well, to business then. There will be no stealing of wands. No taking of books. No locking up of new pets. Harry is going to carry his trunk upstairs, and that will be the end of it. Naturally, if I should hear of the theft of any of his belongings, or he does not appear and tell me he's okay at least once every three days, I will be back on your doorstep. I will not be knocking on your door. I will be blasting it down _with fire_. Understood?"

"Just get upstairs, boy." Senior turned around and went into the living room, sitting with his back to Harry.

"I'm glad we understand each other. Mrs Dursley, nice to see you again. If you and your husband ever get over your irrational hatred of magic, I would be happy to make you some magical objects to make your lives easier. I can be quite pleasant, when my friends are treated fairly. Good bye."

"Thanks," whispered Harry as Susan went out again.

She nodded. "Open invitation," she said. "Come over any time, for any reason. Okay? But let me know every three days, I meant what I said. I don't put it past him to physically lock you up. And you'll have to come over for the _Imbuing. _I like you and everything, but I'm not giving up my XP for you."

Harry laughed. "You got it."

—

16.2

Time: Some weeks later

Place: Susan's House

"Stupid dinner party," said Harry, idly toying with his new permanent _Conceal Magic _item. It had taken a little more then two weeks to finish, and $40 worth of "materials", which Susan used some trash for. The process didn't care if the "materials" were in one piece, as long as they originally cost the correct amount. A worn out pair of shoes that was about to be thrown out couldn't be sold for any money, but the fact they had cost money… that was the important part. Of course the "square of black cloth" was easy, as the size of the square wasn't specified. She found a worn out black sock with the beginnings of a hole and just cut a tiny piece of it off. Done.

Susan made it permanent, for several reasons. She had the time, and Harry didn't actually have XP to lose. So she figured, _Why not just make it always on? Then he won't forget accidentally and cast a spell with it off, and get in trouble._

"It got you out of the house for a while," Susan replied.

"I guess. Thanks for this, again."

"I'll still get you a birthday present if you wanted something. I've got the money to spend, after all." _he he he_

"Are you kidding? You've given me the ability to use magic at home. That's amazing! I'm going to be better then Hermione pretty soon."

They looked at each other.

"Nah," the said together.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door.

"What's that all about?" asked Susan, getting up. "I'll get it mom," she said, going to the door.

"Mr Dursley," she said with evident surprise. "I'm shocked. What can I do for you?"

"There is some sort of _creature_ in my house, asking for Harry. I insist that it be removed at once!"

_What in the world? It couldn't be dangerous, he's still alive. What the heck..._

"You couldn't have brought it over here?"

"It said that it would not leave until it saw him. It's still in his room. Take care of it."

"Okay, sure."

He spun and stomped off without saying goodbye.

"Have a pleasant evening," Susan said sarcastically. "Harry, we need to head back to your room, apparently something there to see you."

"What?" asked Harry, coming out. "Who could that be?"

"Let's find out. _Flight. _Good thing it's dark enough."

Harry and Susan swooped out of the house and over to Harry's, where they carefully opened the window and looked inside.

"Harry Potter!" said a squeaky voice from inside the room. "It is you! How can you be flying without a broom?" The creature was looking over at Harry's broom, propped in the corner.

Susan and Harry looked the creature over. It was small, probably no bigger then a −1 size modifier, and had grayish skin with large eyes. It was wearing a tattered… something, but had no shoes.

Harry looked at Susan, who shrugged.

"It's complicated," answered Harry. "Look, can you meet me at the house over there?" he pointed. "I'm staying there until the guests leave, so it'll be easier to talk there then out this window."

The creature hopped up onto the windowsill, looking down at the two hanging in midair.

"I suppose it must be, sir. Very well, I shall meet you there."

He snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Susan's eyes got wide. "By the gaudy purple robe of my father, that was impressive. No magic circle, no words, just snap. Sheesh. Now I know how you feel, Harry, watching me do magic. Let's go."

The two flew back and went inside, where Stacy was up on a chair trying to stay away from the creature.

"I don't think it bites, mom," said Susan. "Come on, my room is this way."

"Very well, mistress," said the creature.

"My name is Susan, not mistress. And this is Harry, not sir. Now who are you?"

"Dobby, mis- uh, Susan. Dobby the house elf."

"Nice to meet you, Dobby," said Harry. "So what can I do for you?"

"Dobby must speak to you about something, very urgently," said Dobby.

"Before that, can I get you something to eat?" asked Susan, looking the elf over. "No offense, but you look like you could use it."

"Yeah, and maybe a shirt?" Harry added.

Dobby's eyes got wide. Then they filled with tears. Then the tears started to flow.

"You would serve Dobby?" Dobby sniffled. "Food from your table, freely given? And Harry offers Dobby clothes, the very shirt off his back. Little did Dobby credit the rumors of Harry Potter's greatness. But Dobby now sees they were true, oh how they were true. And even a greater surprise, to know that his friends are equally great! Equally giving. Dobby does not deserve such kindness from wizards!"

The two looked at each other. "Why?" asked Susan.

"Yeah, why shouldn't wizards be kind to you?" added Harry.

Dobby tore himself from their gaze and started bashing his head into the wall and yelling. Stacy ran into the room to see what the heck was going on, and looked down at the elf.

"What's he doing that for?" she asked.

"Seems to be some sort of racial trait, I don't know. We haven't gotten much out of him," answered Susan.

Dobby stopped. "Was that necessary?" asked Harry, as Stacy shook her head and walked away.

"Dobby was about to speak ill of his family," he explained.

"I still don't get it. What does your family have to do with wizards?"

"Oh, you misunderstand. Dobby refers to the family he serves. The wizard family he is bound to, for life."

"Whoa, wait. Wait. I want to make sure I am totally understanding this. You serve a wizard family? As in you are some kind of servant? And just the thought of 'speaking ill' of them prompts you to do violence to yourself?"

"That is the way of things," Dobby explained. "If Dobby's master knew was here, he would have to punish himself most grievously!"

"So basically you're telling me you're a slave. That wizard families keep slaves." She looked at Harry.

"I can't believe this," said Harry.

"What else besides Azkaban and slaves have wizards been getting into these last thousand years or so, I wonder?"

"That, even worse, they think is perfectly normal?"

"Dobby, I'll make you a promise. When I stand amidst the smoking rubble of Azkaban, and wizards everywhere know the power of Susan A. Felton, my very next task will be to end the slavery of every house elf."

"But you can't!"

"Destroy Azkaban? Not yet, but I'll get there, you'll see."

"I mean free house elves. They must be freed by their masters!"

"Oh, they will. Or I'll let the one Dementor I leave alive to study have anyone that doesn't."

"But Susan, a house elf is born to serve. It is our purpose. I agree, Dobby's lot is not as he would hope, but many house elves are treated better."

"I see. Well, I'll just check their working conditions or something. Maybe pass some laws that allow them more rights. I don't know. In any case, that wasn't why you came."

"No, Dobby came for a very different reason, though he thanks you for your kind words on his behalf."

"So what is it?" asked Harry, after Dobby paused.

"It is just that, Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts school!"

Susan and Harry glanced at each other again.

"Let me guess," said Susan, "There's some kind of danger there?"

"Yes," said Dobby, hesitantly.

"As if there wasn't before, with Voldemont running around in Professor Quirrell's skin all year."

"Please," Dobby yelped, covering his ears, "Say not that name!"

"I've faced him twice, and quite honestly next to Susan here he didn't look like much. So I'm saying his name. But we took care of that, Dumbledore knows, it's all fine."

"This is something different," Dobby wailed. "A plot to bring chaos to the school this year."

"Then I have to be there," said Harry. "If there's danger there for me, there's danger there for others. I need to be there to protect them."

"So selfless," Dobby said, in wonder. "So noble, that he would sacrifice himself for others. I should not even look him in the eye, I am too low."

"Knock it off," said Susan. "No one is going to sacrifice themselves. Look, I can make us immune to magic. I have spells you can't even imagine. We'll be fine."

"Like making yourself fly?" he asked hopefully.

"Exactly like that. I fought someone who was seriously trying to kill me, someone I thought was professor Quirrell, to a standstill. I would have won, too, if that fight hadn't been interrupted. Seriously, with me by his side, Harry is in no danger whatsoever. And his friends, Ron and Hermione are also going to be there, and they… well, Hermione's pretty good, and Ron is fair."

"He's fair."

"I'm sure he'll improve now that he's back to himself again."

"Yeah, no doubt."

Dobby looked at Susan for a long time. "You claim that your goal is to destroy the wizard prison. You speak as though this will be done, it just has not happened, yet. Then you say you will free house elves, again, like it was nothing of consequence. Can Dobby really put his faith in you?"

Susan nodded. "I'll let you in a secret, Dobby. My magic isn't like that of wizards. My father wasn't from around here. I don't need a wand, just some words and a little bit of will. And we still have months of time to practice magic here, which Harry can do, thanks to me. He's getting stronger, and I know this warning of yours will only make him more determined to learn. We appreciate your warning and we will be careful, but Hogwarts is where we belong. Danger or not. In fact it's better he face danger now, when people like the headmaster are around in case things get out of hand. Once he graduates, he's on his own. He'll only have his own skill and knowledge to draw on. So isn't it better to learn all he can now?"

He seemed to consider this for quite some time.

"Very well. Dobby will put his trust in you. He has heard from his family of your battle with the fake Quirinus. But Dobby did not believe it. Standing here, hearing the certainty of your voice, I now do believe it happened. Please, keep Harry Potter safe."

"I will Dobby, I swear."

"Thank you."

"But seriously, can I get you something to eat?"

"Dobby must depart, he has been gone too long already. If he is missed… farewell, and thank you."

He snapped again, and disappeared.

"Okay, that was weird," said Harry.

"You said it."

Susan grabbed her book of magic and started leafing through.

"_Descry Creature?_" he asked, a wicked look in his eye.

Susan giggled. "You know me far too well, my young padawan. Get the map ready."

"You got it," said Harry, getting on google maps.

Less then half an hour later, both sat, stunned. The spell said 26 miles SE of here, right?" asked Harry.

"That's what it said."

"Wiltshire. Who do we know that lives in Wiltshire?"

"I admit, it's pretty empty around that area. It could be someone else, though."

"Someone from a rich, old, wizard family that wouldn't have any qualms about keeping a house slave?"

"Dobby did say if his master knew he would be punished. But what if someone else in the house ordered him to come warn you?"

"Would he really do that?"

"Like I said, we were making some progress when we were talking. He's not a bad guy, he's just not been brought up very well."

"Too bad we can't just ask him."

"He would just deny it."

"Especially if his dad was around."

"Still, he bears watching. If that's the family that's going to stir up trouble, and we know his dad was a death eater before…"

"But why make trouble at the school?"

"Because that's where you are, I guess? If he can somehow arrange things, through his son, to frame you, it would… well, it would be like your vault. Chipping away at you, one layer at a time until you're broken."

"Like that's going to happen!"

"Exactly. Still, if we get the chance, we'll have to see what his son gives away. Or talk to him at school about it, real casual like. If this is all he could do, sending us this warning, because of pressure from home, we don't want to waste it."

"Yes, his father could instruct him to do certain things, and he wouldn't want to go against those orders."

"I'm doing a _Research _spell, maybe we can get some more information about the family. The internet won't tell us, I can tell you that for sure."

"Okay Hermione. Doing extra work even during the summer."

"This is important you know!"

"I know. I'll go practice my stunning spells."

"Great idea. Remember that precise wand movement!"

The both laughed.

The pair took one last look at the Malfoy mansion on the map, and closed the browser. If trouble was coming, they would be ready for it.


	17. Chapter 17

17

The Magical House

Time: Three Weeks Later

Place: Ron's house

The summer days swiftly burned away as Harry and Susan visited between Hermione and Ron. They received Hermione's invitation first, and Harry wasn't sure about staying over there with two girls in the house, but as her parents were both dentists it was big enough that he got his own room to sleep in. Susan tried to come up with a nice gift to give them, but they refused all offers. According to them, they had been learning about previously unknown (to them) techniques in the dental field with Hermione's _Research _spell. Harry and Hermione also shared the _Conceal Magic _item so Hermione could get in a little practice as well.

Susan then had Hermione over, where they did girl sleepover things that men (such as the author) were forbidden from knowing, and thus could not detail. He apologizes and offers the following advice: Use your imagination.

Then came the letter from Ron.

_Dear Harry and Susan,_

_ My mother says it might be easiest if you were to spend the last week with us, to buy your school supplies and go to the train station. _

_ I wasn't sure if it would be awkward or not, being around me, given what happened, but they know you were my "friends" at school, but not exactly what that meant. So I can understand if you refuse. _

_ If you do want to see if we can be friends when I am not under the influence of dark curses, please let me know. _

_ Fair warning, my mother loves the _Conjure Foodstuff _item you made for me, so prepare for lots of questions about your magic._

_ Also, my father is absolutely obsessed with Muggles- sorry, I know you don't like that word, Susan, non-magical people. So be prepared to answer a ton of questions about that, too._

_ Hope Harry didn't get locked up, but dad says Susan wasn't carted off to be tried at the ministry for burning his relatives' house down, so I figure it's probably okay._

_ Hope to hear from you._

_ Ron_

"It would be easier," Harry remarked after reading it.

"I'd love to see a house run by an actual magical family."

"Your mother won't mind, will she?"

"I doubt it. They met at the train station, when Ron's dad asked her about fire hydrants."

"Oh yeah! We should write a book: _What Really Goes on in the Muggle World."_

"Right after we destroy the word Muggle. What's it even mean, anyway?"

"Don't look at me."

So Susan had Ron send them a picture of their house so they could _Teleport _there, and packed most of their things into her _Pocket Dimension. _Saying goodbye to her mother and picking up Sparkle, Susan took Harry's hand and cast the spell from her book. She vanished from her room.

In front of her was a house looking thing. Sort of. If the house had been built by someone half mad, and then added onto vertically without taking the normal laws of physics into account. Various additions made of different materials were stacked atop each other, and Susan gave a little "Eep!" as her eyes tried to take the whole thing in.

"You asked for it," said Harry, also a bit stunned.

"Yup."

"Hello!" shouted a voice from a window above them. An older boy, possibly George (or Fred) was leaning out, waving. "I'll send Ron down!"

Susan waved back. "Thank you!"

"Thanks for coming over," said Ron. "My house isn't much, but they kept pestering me to invite you. I had to tell them about what happened at school, though not everything, of course."

"Oh Ron, you're way too modest," said Susan, looking about his room. It was plastered with Quidditch posters and such, _boy things _thought Susan, who didn't have much experience with boy's rooms. Harry's "room" had been a cupboard most of his life, and he hadn't done much to Junior's old room. "This house is pretty amazing. But I have a plan to repay your folks for letting us stay that will make it even more amazing, don't you worry."

"You don't have to," mumbled Ron.

"Course I do! Won't be any trouble, believe me. It's just a spell, one of the vary rare ones that are semi-permanent when cast. And with the amount of energy I can put in, it'll last a long, long time." Her eyes twinkled.

"What's it do?"

"Oh, you'll see!" giggled Susan.

"So, anything interesting happen lately? How was your visit with Hermione?"

"Actually, something interesting did happen," replied Harry. "We got a visit from a house elf a few weeks after school let out. Wanted to warn us about some kind of plot someone is cooking up for next year."

"A house elf told you this? That's weird. Mom's always saying she wishes she had a house elf to help with things around here."

"You mother wants a slave?" said Susan, aghast. "I'm going to have to reevaluate my perception of her."

"What are you talking about? They like being enslaved."

"Like it?" Harry and Susan looked at each other. "You can't be serious."

"It's what I've always heard," Ron assured them.

"Humph," said Susan, making a pouty face. "I could make her a servant, I know that spell. I use it all the time to clean my room up. I suppose I could do it to repay her hospitality, but honestly, wanting a slave."

"I don't think they see it like that," said Harry, looking at Ron, who had a confused look on his face. "Anyway, Susan's magic tracked it back to the Malfoy mansion, at least we think that's where he went. So the question is, did this house elf overhear some plot and come to warn me against his master's wishes? Or was he sent to warn me by someone living there?"

"You don't really think Draco sent him, do you?"

Harry shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Did he say what this so called plot was about?"

"I don't think he could. Just something about chaos at the school. I'm not sure how that would be different from the normal state of things there, but that's what he said. He seemed relieved because Susan was so powerful. You should have seen his face when he saw us flying about!" Harry laughed.

"Wait, you can use magic outside of school?"

"My magic doesn't show up to whatever wanded wizards did to alert them of what they called 'underage magic.' And I made Harry an item that cancels out whatever that spell is, so he can do magic no problem too."

"Wow."

"You can borrow it, if you want to get some magic practice in before school starts."

"Who do you think I am, Hermione?"

All three laughed.

In the days that followed, Susan insisted on creating an _Imbued _item of _Autonomous Assistant _for Ron's mother, and was studying her mystery spell to put on the house.

She handed Mrs Weasley a stone hand, "Because it's a helping hand, see?" and told her how to use it.

"It's a grade four spell," she began, "Which I know means nothing to you but it does mean it'll drain four energy from you when you activate it. I don't know what that means to you because you don't seem to have desecrate energy but my other stuff works, so it should be fine. I tell you this because it's a warning- you could almost use it to death. Wait an hour in-between uses and you should be fine. If you want other people to command it, that's okay too."

"How do I use it?" she asked, holding it up.

"It's just like Ron's item of _Conjure Foodstuff. _In this case, the trigger word is _Assistant _and the task you wish it to perform. It will vanish after that, and the assistant is invisible in any case, so my advice would be this. Make the task moving from some starting location, performing the task, and then returning. Observe."

She took the item back, then placed it on the floor in a corner of the room. She touched it with one finger.

"Assistant- Follow me. Fold the laundry I show you. Return to this spot." Four energy drained out of her, and she took her finger off. The hand rose into the air. Mrs Weasley took a step back. "There's now a sort of invisible creature standing there, with the item at the center," she explained. "Now I'll head out to where you have your laundry drying and it'll complete the second part of the task. When it's done it'll come back here rather then disappearing and making you search out in the grass for it. Come on."

She went downstairs and then outside, the hand trailing after her. It started folding the laundry.

"It's about as strong as a normal person, so it can't move huge boulders or anything. It's also not very bright. It won't go berserk if you tell it to wash the dishes and start washing every dish in the house. It'll be smart enough to know it's just the dirty dishes. However if there's any ambiguity in your orders it just won't activate. Try to be more specific or break the job down more. Any questions?"

"Your magic made this thing?" she asked.

"Pretty neat, huh?"

The evening before their letters arrived, Susan asked the entire family to join her outside, and they watched as Sparkle cast a spell over Susan, who was grinning like a maniac.

"Now, this spell normally takes 12 hours," she explained, "Which is a bit much, in my opinion. Casting it from my book would normally double that time. And I like you all, but twenty four hours of magic is a little bit much even for me. That's why Sparkle learned the spell she just cast on me: It's a curious one. It relates to how my magic works, and I think you're going to pleased."

Susan closed her eyes and began gathering energy for the spell, and 8 actions later she was ready.

She looked at her book and magical circles started appearing under the house. "_Fortification," _she said simply, and magical energy exploded around the house in a dazzling display.

Susan fell over, all 80 of her energy rushing out and into the spell.

"Susan!" everyone said, rushing to her side.

"I'm okay," she said, trying to get up again. "Never done that before, bit of a rush, actually."

"What did you do?" asked Arthur, looking up at his house. Bits of magical energy were still binding themselves into the structure in a dazzling lights display.

"Like I said, the spell usually takes 12 hours. When it's done… well, there's quite a list, actually. Basically your house is now the toughest thing on the planet. For the next, oh, eighty years or so."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he pressed.

"Let the poor girl sit down inside, she looks exhausted!" said Molly.

"That's because I am," explained Susan. "I just used more energy then you would in a week on that one spell."

_Of course, unless I go negative I don't actually get any _Fatigue _so it's probably more psychological then anything else._

"No way!" said Harry, who knew exactly how her magic worked.

"Way," said Susan, winking at him.

They went in and sat down.

"Okay, now I can explain what I've done," said Susan, collapsing into a comfy chair. "Your house would survive a war being fought here, as long as they didn't drop any nuclear bombs on it. It can't burn down or collapse because of an earthquake. No one can use magic to spy on anyone inside, nor can any form of teleportation into the house itself function. No enemy or person who means you harm, even indirectly, can enter. And like I said, it'll last for about 80 years, as that was my rating in Sun magic, at the time."

"You took a massive penalty to cast it instantly, and made up for by using all your energy in one big burst," said Harry. "That's what that spell Sparkle cast did, right?"

"Exactly," said Susan. "_Energetic Accumulation. _It might be considered cheating, given how my magic works, but I felt I owed them the effort."

"So let me get this straight," said one of the twins. "If there was a troll wandering around outside…"

"…And we just closed the door on him…" said the other.

"…He could pound on it all day and never get in."

"That's about the size of it."

"What an amazing gift," said Arthur.

"We can't possibly repay it," said Molly.

"Bah," said Susan, waving a hand. "A good night's sleep is all I need. I'm repaying you for your hospitality this last week. You can't pay me back for paying you back. Also I wanted to experience the effects of casting spells this way, in case it turned out badly. This was the biggest thing I could think of. Oh, and I have to apologize." She looked over at Arthur.

"For what?"

"Making those items for my friends. Ron told me about what you do, Mr Weasley. Hunting down objects that have spells cast into them. I didn't even consider that it might be illegal."

Molly looked at him. "Such as a flying car?"

"Now dear, we've discussed that. In any case, there's nothing to apologize for. In the first place, it's Muggle objects that are the problem. These little stone objects would just be treated as a keychain if found in the Muggle world, or just tossed out. Also, they require a password of sorts, they won't activate on their own. So I think you're fine. Just do be careful about making things like that, okay?"

"Will do."

"I expect you'll want to get to bed then?" asked Molly.

Susan nodded.

"Off you go then. And thank you."

"Sure thing. Someone remind me in 80 years and I'll come refresh the spell on the house."

"This lot won't come cheap," said Fred (or George) at breakfast the next morning. Their books for the year seemed to consist of every book ever written by one Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Gets around, does he?" asked Susan, scowling. "Still, I should think Fred and George could share a set, no? Presumably they're taking the same classes."

"We are, and we could," said one of the twins.

"There's just one problem," said the other.

"I don't trust him not to mess with it," the both said at once.

"We'll manage somehow," said Molly, bustling about. "I'm sure we can pick up Ginny's second hand."

"She could have mine," said Susan. "I doubt I'll get much out of them, honestly, given how different our styles of magic are. I'll get them out of the way and she can have them the rest of the year."

Ginny glared at her.

"You're starting this year?" asked Harry. "Great! If you even need any help, don't be shy about asking, okay?" She squeaked something, blushed, and ran out of the room.

"Was it something I said?"

"At least she seems to like you," said Susan sadly. "Personally she just looks angry whenever she looks at me."

"She's just a bit jealous that you've known Harry longer," explained Ron. "She'll come around."

"I hope you're right," said Susan sadly. "But my offer still stands," she said to Molly.

"Thank you dear, I'll think about it."

When the time came to leave, the family crowded around the fireplace.

"This is your teleportation nexus?" Susan asked, gesturing. "A fireplace?"

"It works," said Arthur.

"And you're all too young to Apparate, so the Floo network it is. Come now, guests first. Harry?" said Molly.

"What exactly do I do?" he asked.

"Oh yes. It's much like one of Susan's magical objects, actually. Throwing the powder and stating your destination cause you to appear there. Quite simple, really," said Molly.

"Oh. I'll give it a try then," Harry said, stepping up. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just teleport us there, Susan?"

"No, I'd like to experience their form of teleportation. I'm looking forward to it," she answered.

"Right. Here we go then." He took a pinch of the powder that was offered. "Diagonally!" he said, becoming wreathed in green flames and disappearing.

"He didn't just say what I think he said, did he?" asked Susan.

"I think there's a very good chance," said Arthur. "Better get after him."

"I think I'll stick to my form from now on," said Susan, light headed as the rest of the family appeared from the designated flame in point in Diagon Ally.

"You said it," agreed Sparkle, licking herself clean. "That was awful. How do they put up with it?"

"I expect they don't know any better. Now where's Harry?"

"Excellent question," said Arthur. "Fan out everyone, we'll meet back here in ten minutes."

Moments later Harry and the rest of the party were reunited, and everyone said hello to Rubeus, who had found him.

"You'll never believe where I came out," said Harry.

"It must have been somewhere close," said Ron, looking around.

"Some shop called Borgin and Burkes. And guess who was there trying to get rid of some stuff?"

"Who?"

"Let's just say a man who may in fact own a certain house elf?"

"Lucius Malfoy?" asked Arthur, who had of course been told about the visit by the house elf previously.

"The very same."

"And he was selling, not buying? Borgin and Burkes, eh? I'd love to get my hands on that stuff before it leaves his possession. I bet I could put him away a long time."

Harry looked at him, then down at Sparkle. He turned back to Arthur. "You really mean that? I mean if you caught him with it, that would be really, really bad for him?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Because I think there's a way. You would have to see him, I expect?" he asked Sparkle.

"What are you cooking up?" asked Susan.

"After they made the deal, Mr Malfoy said 'I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods.'"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Arthur asked, confused.

"I see where you're going with this," Susan said, eyes sparkling. "Oh, that's wicked Harry."

"What? What are you kids talking about?"

"Come with me, I'll explain on the way." Harry took off.

"Be back in a moment dear," he called back to Molly.

"It might be dangerous, you'll need a squad of people from the ministry to back you up. Or Susan, at the very least. I hope you can round some up on short notice," said Harry.

"Possibly, but honestly, what's this all about?"

"You're going to get there before he does," said Susan. "Mr Malfoy will then hand you his illegal objects, and then you pounce. Personally I'll consider it as getting him back for mistreating his house elf all these years."

"But he's going to recognize me, it takes a month to brew polyjuice potion. Though I suppose I could find someplace that sells it down there…" he shuddered.

"Not necessary," said Sparkle. "I can shape shift you into him with magic, no problem."

"Really?"

"The spell is fairly simple," Sparkle said. "It should be no trouble at all."

They came to the shop, which Susan didn't need _Magic Sense _to tell her was full of dark magics. "You kids should stay out here," said Arthur, looking it over.

"I'm sorry, Mr Weasley, but you're with me, not the other way around. We go in together. I want to make sure you come out again."

"That's-" he tried to say, but Susan pushed the door open and went inside.

"Welcome, can I- what?" said an unpleasant looking man.

"Is he the one?" Susan asked Harry, ignoring him.

"That's him."

Susan looked back at him. "I see."

"Arthur Weasley?" said the man, looking past them. "I don't believe this is anyplace I would have guessed you would ever be. Surely you cannot be wanting my services?"

"That depends…" said Arthur, probably trying to stall for time. Sparkle started walking around the man, looking up at him.

"Depends? Who are these children? What is this all about? Why is that cat staring at me? Get out of my shop this instant, all of you!"

"Satisfied?" asked Susan to Sparkle.

"Face," she whispered back, holding a paw up. Susan picked her up and she peered at the man.

"What are you doing?" said the man, beginning to lose it.

"Leaving," said Susan curtly. "There's obviously nothing for us in a shop with so rude a salesman. My gold will spend just as easily elsewhere. Come, Arthur."

They walked out.

"My heart is pounding," said Arthur, walking back to where they had left the others.

"Tomorrow is going to be worse. Unless you'd like me to do shape shifting and you can be invisible. You're going to have to convince Mr Malfoy you're that guy. I hope you're up to it."

"So do I," muttered Arthur. "It's a mad plan, but it could work."

"Of course it'll work," said Susan. "You've got me on your side."

The Weasley's went off to get whatever money they had from their vault, and Harry felt it would not do to embarrass Ron by going with them.

"But won't you need money?" asked Molly.

"My vault was emptied some time after after Voldemort was destroyed, probably by Death Eaters. The goblins were of course falling all over themselves to apologize. Apologize, but not offer restitution. Susan here spoke up for that. Though I could pop in and see how the investigation was going."

"You've got nothing?" asked Ron, probably wondering if he should feel superior to his friend because even he had a few Sickles saved, or bad because Harry was now penniless. (In a manner of speaking)

"Not exactly," hedged Harry. "Like I said, the bank gave me a small 'loan' which won't come due until they get my money back from whoever stole it. And Susan had a rather brilliant plan to make more, so I'm not worried about it at the moment."

"Your whole fortune stolen?" said Arthur, shocked. "Oh Harry, I'm sorry."

"Thanks. I'm not even sure how much I lost, it really didn't matter. There wasn't anything I could do about it."

"That's rough," said Ron.

"Go on. I'll meet you over at the bookshop later."

The bookshop, Flourish and Blotts, seemed to be packed to bursting with people.

"Interesting that a lot of these shops are run by two people," remarked Susan. "Even down in the seedier part of town, it was never 'Smily's Junk' it's always 'Guy and Other Guy's Magical Doodads.'"

"What's the crowd all about? They giving something away?" asked Harry.

"No, it's Lockhart, apparently he's here this afternoon," said Hermione, pointing to the sign outside. "I feel like I should be more excited, given the adventures he's had. But somehow after seeing all the things Susan has already done in her life, he seems sort of bland."

"I'm just getting started, Hermione," said Susan, taking her arm. "You haven't seen anything yet."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Entering the shop, they caught up with the Weasley family, where Arthur and Molly stood quietly arguing. From what she could catch, Arthur had told his wife about the plan to be shape shifted into another person and go after Lucius. Susan shook her head. _You really have to learn what to keep from your wife, _she thought. _Not that Hermione-_

"You okay?" asked Ron. "You've gone all red."

"Never you mind!" Susan snapped, trying not to continue that line of thought.

Getting up to the table, Gilderoy snapped up Harry and started announcing that he would be the one to take over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts that year at Hogwarts, which made most people applaud. He even gave Harry a set of his books, which she saw Harry tip into Ginny's cauldron and say he would buy his own.

"No more Professor Quirrell then," sighed Susan unhappily.

"He did teach us a lot. I hope Gilderoy follows in the tradition," Hermione replied.

"I just hope he's recovering okay. We should ask Headmaster Dumbledore when we get back to school."

"Good idea."

"Trouble, come on."

Susan and Hermione walked over to Harry, who was talking to Draco.

"It must be tough, not being able to go anywhere without that sort of thing happening," he was saying.

"You can say that again," replied Harry. He seemed a bit shocked to find Draco actually conversing with him in a civil tone.

"Hello Susan," said Draco, looking over at him. "Hermione."

"Hello Draco, I hope your summer has been going well?"

"Quite, thank you. What do you think of our new Defense teacher then?"

"There's something off about him," said Susan. "He's either a total faker or the most loudmouthed man on the planet."

"Why do you say that?" asked Harry.

"I know what you mean," Draco replied, and they all turned to look. "Watch him move. Professor Dumbledore, Quirrell, especially Professor Snape. Even Professor McGonagall, though I am loath to admit it, moves like, how do I explain? Like they're solid people. You know what I mean? Like they've seen their worst fear and beaten it up and laughed at it. Gilderoy doesn't move like that. He's showy, big, like he wants all eyes on him, all the time."

"Yeah, that's it," Susan said finally. "I couldn't put my finger on it, but you've nailed it, Draco. You're a pretty good judge of character, aren't you?"

"I guess." He looked away.

"Draco, we're leaving!" cried a voice.

"It's my dad, I've gotta go. See you at school, Susan."

"Your father? We should pay our respects!" said Susan.

"Are you sure?" Harry whispered to her as Draco moved through the crowd.

"Just watch him, I want to see if he reacts to us." She followed behind Draco.

"Sir?" she asked respectively. "You are Mr Malfoy?"

"I am," he answered.

"I'm Susan Felton, an acquaintance of your son's. It's an honor to meet the man Draco holds in such high regard." She held out her hand, which he shook.

"Susan? I've heard that name. Yes, my son has spoken of you and your amazing magic quite often."

"I'm flattered he would mention me. We have spoken a few times about some fascinating subjects. I'm looking forward to having some more with him, when his time permits."

"Draco, you didn't tell me she was this charming- hello Arthur."

Mr Weasley stepped up behind Susan. "Everything all right here, then?"

"But of course. I was just saying hello to Susan here, she wished to introduce herself."

"She's been staying with us the past week, so I have to look after her, you see."

"Look after her?" he said, seeming surprised. "As though I was some kind of threat to the girl. Still, I'm surprised you could afford a guest. But of course all that overtime you've been putting in- they are paying you extra for it, I expect?"

"I think I'll actually be putting in for a raise soon," he replied smugly. "In fact, I can tell you right now my next job might be the biggest one of my career."

"I wish you luck then," Lucius said dryly, grabbing the one shabby transfiguration book out of Ginny's cauldron. "It seems, judging from the state of this, that you're going to need all the help you can get. I say, what is that idiot doing?" He looked over at Lockheart.

As did everyone else, to see him being thoroughly kissed by a young witch. It didn't seem like he was struggling to get away all that hard.

"That's who Albus chose to teach Defense?" Lucius sneered, dropping the book back. "No wonder the school has gone downhill so much. Goodbye all. It was nice meeting you, Susan."

He put his arm around his son and swept them out of the shop.

"Well?" asked Harry.

Susan shook her head. "I saw the way he moved, but that's about it. Draco was right, when you start looking for it, it's there."

"You've got it," said Hermione.

"What?"

"Don't give me that look. You know your magic is better then ours, that makes you act a certain way."

"Hermione, I may believe my magic is more flexible, possibly even more useful, but never _better._ I hope you believe that."

"Nevertheless," she said. "You know what you're capable of, and it shows. The same as Professor Dumbledore, and Mr Malfoy."

"Strange to hear those two grouped together, no matter what the context. Anyway, it was all I could do not to laugh in his face. Tomorrow, Susan, we wipe that smug grin off his face."

"I just realized, what happens to Draco if his father goes to prison?"

"He still has his mother. I wouldn't say she was innocent of his dealings, but he's the one I want."

"It's just, if you reveal that you're, you know, yourself, he's going to know it was me helping you out. Because only my magic could do it."

"Hummm." He was thoughtful for a second. "How about two birds with one stone? We get the Auror squad in the house and they step out of nowhere when the box is handed over. He believes Borgin betrayed him because he sees the man walk free, and the real Mr Borgin's reputation vanishes overnight."

"Won't someone try to take revenge on Borgin?"

"Once he hears about it, he'll flee the country. Man like that, dealing with Malfoy types? He has an escape plan, mark my words."

"Okay."

"Settled then. I can't wait!"

_I hope I'm doing the right thing..._


	18. Chapter 18

18

Assault on the Manor

Time: The next morning

Place: The Ministry of Magic

Four tough looking wizards, three men and one woman, looked down at Susan and Sparkle. That morning they had gotten up early and gone with Arthur, though the floo network, to where he worked. It was so early that hardly anyone was coming or going, and Susan was taken to a side office where the four were waiting for her.

"And she's going to make this plan work?" said one of them. "A girl who can't be a third year student yet."

"As I've explained, she and her cat have certain spells that will allow us to infiltrate the manor and catch Lucius in the act of handing over his illegal objects to who he thinks is the buyer. That will, of course, be me."

"I don't buy it," said another.

"Nor should you," said Susan. "You've just been given a remarkable claim. So obviously it's going to require remarkable evidence."

"She's got you there, Paul," said the woman. "Why don't we just see what she can do before we reject her?"

"Fine," grumbled Paul. "But this had better work, Arthur."

"Then let's get this party started," said Susan. "Sparkle?"

She nodded, and padded over to Arthur. "_Shape-shift_" she said, touching him with a paw. Before the group's eyes, Arthur morphed into the man she had seen in the shop.

"I saw it, but I don't believe it," said another man.

"Yeah, that was something," said the forth.

"When we get to where we're going, your minds are really going to be blown, so get ready. How are we getting there, by the way?"

"We'll travel by floo to the nearest point near the Malfoy Manor, then fly the rest of the way. How are you going to get them in?" asked Arthur.

"The same way we got past the flame trap to fight Voldemort's shade. We'll step into the astral, that'll make us all invisible and able to pass through the walls. Sparkle and I will be invisible, just in case something bad should happen. Once the bust is made we can just fly back to where we came out and I'll just go directly to The Burrows," answered Susan.

"Wait, you fought who's shade now?" asked the third man.

"What's the astral?" asked Paul.

"Sorry, the first one's classified. As for the second, think of it as a slightly offset dimension from us where can we observe, but not be observed."

"What's a dimension?"

Susan sighed. "You know, if I had to answer questions about my magic all day I would do nothing else. Can we get on with it before the real guy shows up? You'll experience it firsthand in a little while, after all."

"Whatever. Let's go."

Coming out of the fireplace, everyone mounted their brooms. Well, almost everyone.

"Wait, where's your broom?" asked the woman, who had introduced herself as Katrina.

"Please," replied Susan. "I will not degrade myself by pretending to fly on a broom. _Flight." _A magical circle surrounded her, and Susan rose into the air. "You coming or not?"

"How-" demanded Katrina, pointing to her and looking at Arthur.

"Don't ask," he replied.

"In any case, we better go into the astral now," said Susan. "He should only see Mr Whatever His Name Was approaching. You won't be able to see us, but don't worry, we'll be right behind you."

"You're the boss little lady," said the first man. "We'll do whatever you say."

"Great, take my hand, and Sparkle will do the honors."

The four rose on their broomsticks and joined hands with Susan. Sparkle pulled them through to the Astral plane with _Dimension Step_, where they looked around.

Arthur looked around. "Wow, you weren't kidding. I can't see you at all! I hope you're still there. We're off." He took off flying, and the others followed him.

"So where are we exactly? I'm Don, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Don. Think of us as having slipped through a crack in the world. So we're sort of 'beside' it, so to speak. We can pass through normal matter, but nothing your magic can do will spot us. At least according to Mr Weasley, when we discussed the plan."

"There are about a million questions I want to ask you right now, oh, and I'm Terry."

"I'm sorry that I can't really answer them. I can tell you my magic is very different then yours, and would ask that you don't spread it around too much. Headmaster Dumbledore and I are hoping to pass it off as unremarkable for as long as we can."

"I can see why. What else can you do?"

Susan smiled. "A lot. With the time to study the right spell, probably anything. I've memorized about 30 spells, and Sparkle knows about that many different ones from me."

"Wait a minute," said Katrina. "The Longbottoms just got better recently. You didn't have anything to do with that, did you? The healers said it was some new technique they were working on."

Susan colored. "Yes, that was me. Again, I've requested them not be told, for obvious reasons."

She whistled. "That was fine work. Most of us despaired of them ever getting healed. That's some power you- did you say your _cat _knew a bunch of spells? That's right, she cast the spell that changed Arthur, didn't she? I didn't want to believe my eyes!"

"Believe it. She's just as powerful as I am, in her own right. We've been together all our lives."

"Who are you?" asked Paul, awed.

"Would you believe I just recently found that out myself? But like I said, I can't really say." She laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, anyway!"

They flew on in silence, and finally approached a large mansion, where Arthur descended to.

"Time for us to go invisible. When Sparkle drops us out of the Astral you better make sure you're not standing inside anything. That could be messy. She can't drop just you guys out, so I'll be in the same room, invisible. Make your move and do it fast. If something goes wrong I'll back you up, but then my invisibility will drop. I would rather he not know I was involved. Just say "now" when you're all in position and want to be in the world again, okay?"

They all nodded and dropped down to stand with Arthur.

"Go in and get into position, the walls won't stop you," said Susan. She began casting _Invisibility._

The four set their brooms down and stepped through the wall, looking around the house. A few seconds later, Susan and Sparkle did also, now invisible.

They watched as Lucius came to the door.

"You're early this morning," he said, looking past Arthur.

"I figured you were a busy man, I would get this out of the way first thing."

"Very considerate of you. Step inside before someone sees you. I'll get the merchandise."

"Very well."

Inside the room was a series of narrow carpets laid over hardwood floors which gleamed. In fact everything there was expensive, old, or both, and Susan had to admit she was impressed. The rich, even in the wizard world, lived well, it seemed. She watched the others get into positions around Arthur, wands out. He was standing on the carpet, looking about interestedly, while the others were standing on the wood.

Lucius returned with a box. "You have the money?" he asked.

"As soon as I make sure the merchandise is in the proper condition," replied Arthur.

"Oh, very well," he said, handing the box over. Arthur reached to take it.

"NOW!" shouted Paul, and Sparkle released the spell holding them in the Astral.

Everything went black.

—

18.2

Time: Fifteen minutes later

Place: Unknown

Susan groaned and struggled to open her eyes. It felt cold, like she was lying on stone, and she wasn't sure if she had her eyes open or not.

_What hit me? _she thought.

"Sparkle?"

"Anyone?"

_No answer. That can't be good. What happened to me? Was there some kind of defense system on the house that we didn't anticipate? _

Fear filled her.

_I was knocked unconscious. That means I became visible, if only for a second. If I was teleported after I got knocked out… oh no, if Sparkle got knocked out the shape-shift on Mr Weasley was ended, and he would have been standing there looking surprised. Crap! How did this happen?_

Susan got up and checked herself. Nothing seemed to be broken or even hurt, and she wasn't bound in any way. Her eyes were not covered, it was just pitch black here. She felt along the wall and found herself in a cell, barely big enough to stretch her arms across. There was a set of metal bars on one side.

_Wow, good thing I learned _Phase_, I guess. Well, let's see what's out there. Better not use the light spell, I don't want to give away my position. And anyway, what did I make this item for, if not this? _She smiled.

"Four Spell," she intoned, touching the bracelet. The world lit up as though it was daylight, in black and white.

_Huh? _Susan found herself staring down a long passageway that went to the left. _Not exactly what I was expecting. Though I'm not sure what I was expecting, really. Better get a move on. I don't know how long I was out for and I might need to rescue the others. Especially Mr Weasley. I got him into this mess, so I'm going to get him out._

Susan easily cast _Phase _on herself and stepped through the bars, keeping the spell going just in case. She turned down the hall, looking around. The walls looked like they had been hacked out of the ground, while the floor was smooth stone. She almost immediately came to another turn, and looked around it. The hallway went for a few paces and then turned again.

_Great, is this some sort of maze? I'll follow the right wall then,_ she decided. Turning again she saw a long hallway that branched left and right, and when she got up to it, found that the left "route" only went on a few steps, then dead ended. She turned right, passing a door on her left.

_And where do you go, mysterious door? _

Following the right wall she came to a portcullis, which was down. She easily stepped through, _thank you Phase magic, _and stepped into a large room.

_Yuck, giant spiders, _she thought, phasing through webs to follow the right wall. _The question is, what do they eat?_

Following the wall she made a left turn and came to a door, which she now phased through.

_Oh, _she thought, as she stepped through a family of rats sleeping in a small nest. _Don't mind me, just passing though. _Susan came to another door, and looked around. It seemed as though these two doors were the only way in or out of this place, so where did the rats come from? She shrugged. _Maybe there's some kind of hidden door, or a small tunnel they dug?_

She stepped through the door and continued following the hallway. It made a u-turn and passed what looked like a bunch of holes in the wall. She peer into them, and saw a bunch of edged shapes inside the holes.

_Seriously, a poison dart trap?_

She moved on, following a very long corridor and ending at an empty cell. _Naturally there would be more then one_. She moved on, back the way she came but down another long hallway she had just passed to get to the empty cell. Turning right half way down, she spied another set of bars, and stepped through them. This was a large room, easily the biggest she had seen thus far, and snacking on something in the center of the room-

_That has to be the largest centipede I've ever seen. Oh crap!_

The thing raised its head and charged for her, and Susan almost started the incantation for _Elemental Attack (Fire) _but stopped herself. _It's not like the thing can hurt me. _As predicted, it passed right through her, and slammed into the wall behind her at high speed. It seemed dazed, but charged again, and once again got nowhere. It seemed to stand there in confusion.

"Not too bright, are you?" she asked. "Just go back to your… dinner." She followed the right wall and came to a door, which she stepped through. Walking down the hallway she spotted a figure hunched over in another cell.

"Hey, I'm here!" she shouted, running forward.

The figure didn't even seem to hear her.

_Oh right, I'm still phased. Silly of me, really. _She ended the spell, and tapped the bars.

"Who's there?" said the figure, looking up. It was Don.

"It's me, Susan. Are you okay?"

"Susan? It sounds like you, but I can't see a darn thing."

"Oh, okay, just a second. _Light._" Susan dropped _Darksight_, which she felt was more useful, but figured one casting of _Light _was better then dropping _Darksight _and casting it again another 4 times.

"Oh, there you are. You're okay! Can you get me out of here? My wand is gone."

"I figured as much. Yeah, grab onto me."

One casting of _Phase _later, and Don was standing next to her, outside the cell. She maintained the spell, and kept a hold of Don's hand.

"Thanks, I was worried I would be in there forever! What was that spell- no, never mind, we have more important things to worry about. Are you hurt?"

"No. Whatever brought us here knocked me out, but I'm not bruised in any way. Are you? I know healing magic."

Don shook his head. "No, I'm fine, thanks. What happened, anyway?"

Susan shrugged. "We stepped out of the Astral, and then the next thing I remember is waking up in that cell."

"The floor. I bet it was a portkey! That little slimeball, he would rig his own house."

"What's that?"

"You can put a teleport spell into an object. Anyone that touches it gets teleported. That's why he was only walking on the carpet- it wasn't there for decoration, it was there to make sure he didn't get caught in his own spell!"

"Devious. And that brought us here, huh? Any ideas where we are?"

"We could be anywhere. Come on, we have to search for the others. Can I have my hand back, now?"

"No, actually. I have to tell you, this whole place is not only trapped, I saw a giant centipede in the room back there. There are also doors and portcullis all over the place. Right now you're still phased with me, but if you let go, you're back in the real world again."

Don waved a hand through the bars again. "You're right. But it looks normal, not like that weird space we were in before."

"Different spell. Somewhat similar effect. We can be seen, but not touched."

"Lead on, you're the one with the magic at the moment."

"Okay, I'm following the right wall at the moment, so we'll only make right turns."

They continued back the passageway and to the right, then made two more rights, then passed a door on the left.

"You said this place was trapped?"

"Yeah, I saw some holes on the side of one wall. Probably something mechanical, a wizard wouldn't be expecting it. Not that I see how he expected anyone to get out of those cells."

"Ah, you didn't trigger it because of this phasing, you called it."

"Exactly."

The passageway here was long, and jogged left a bit, then continued right. The two passed another spike trap without realizing it, then came to look at the ugly, squat statue sitting in an alcove.

"Some kind of trap?" Susan wondered. "Would it activate if we weren't phased?"

"Possibly. Who knows what he's cooked up for down here."

"Creepy. Let's go."

Turning down the hallway to the left, the two passed a fire trap without knowing it after a passageway to their left.

"This place is extensive! I hope we can make it out of here," said Don, marveling at how far they had come thus far.

"Don't worry, if worst comes to worst I can teleport out of here and get help. I just thought it would be faster to find everyone down here, but now I'm not so sure."

"Tell you what, I can teleport without a wand, though we call it Apparation. The next person we find, we'll try to get out of here and head back to the ministry. You can stay and rescue more people, as you seem more capable then us without wands. Why is that, exactly? Or can't you talk about it?"

"Sorry."

"Ah well. Say, do you hear something?"

That something turned out to be Katrina, who was busy chipping away at the rock holding the bars in place with a knife.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed as they drew closer. "Thank goodness."

"No, thank Susan. She got me out. We're all going to get out of here!"

"Great! Don't suppose you could magic up our wands, could you?"

Susan shook her head. "Sorry, I would need to know their exact location before I could bring them here. It's a limitation of the _Retrieval _spell. Wait a second, if you guys can teleport or what did you call it? Apparate? Why couldn't you get out of your cells that way?"

"It was the first thing I tried," replied Katrina. "I didn't get anywhere."

"I'm hoping it's just the cell," said Don. "Once you're out I hope we can do it and get back, then bring reinforcements here."

"Well don't just stand there then, get me out of here!"

"Will do!" said Susan. She hauled Katrina out through the bars with Phase, then let go of her.

"Nice. That spell would sure come in handy. Ever think of becoming an Auror?"

"The nurse at the school wanted to know if I wanted to be a healer. I'm getting job offers all around."

"With that magic, I can see why. You sure you'll be okay?"

"I just rescued the both of you, didn't I?"

"Good point. We'll come back when we can. Ready, Don?"

"Ready."

"Good luck."

Nothing happened.

"Crap, looks like it's not the cell. I feel so naked without my wand!"

"The whole place must be warded off. He really didn't want people escaping from here, huh?"

"I should say not. Lead on, I guess."

To make a long story short, they next found Paul, and again phased, which was a bit difficult now that three grown adults had to touch Susan to maintain the effect. They settled for gently grabbing her hair, and carefully walking behind her. Backtracking now, they came upon Sparkle who was relieved to see them, and had been phasing herself though the various creatures and traps found in this labyrinth on her own. Walking the seemingly endless corridors they passed monstrous scorpions, ants, weird symbols carved into the walls, rotting wooden crates and faded tapestries.

_Someone really wanted an authentic experience for prisoners here, didn't they?_

They stopped for a rest after walking for what seemed like hours, and Susan made them some food, then pulled some bottles of water out of her pocket dimension and handed them out. (They were reused, filled with the _Elemental Conjure (water)_ spell. She hadn't bought them herself.)

The other three stared at her. "What?"

"Thanks," said all three, tearing into the food.

Eventually they came back to where they started, Susan's cell.

"Well, crap," said Susan, looking back into her cell. "Where is Terry?"

"Probably behind some secret door we passed without knowing," said Sparkle. "But I would hate to travel that funhouse without _Phase_ going, let me tell you!"

"I know. I could probably learn a new spell to help us out, but I'd rather use what we know if possible," said Susan. "I only know _Path Tracer _though, which is not going to help at all."

"Pick me up," said Sparkle to Katrina, "I think I know something that can help. _Detect Friends._"

"This spell takes complete concentration," explained Susan. "But it will tell us when we get close. Like 60 feet or so. Anything?"

Sparkle shook her head.

"Well, let's motor, we're going to have to walk the whole place again and see if she gets anything. At least we can move at speed, we know nothing here can hurt us."

They moved off.

"That way!" said Sparkle after only a moment. They were in the room with the rats, and Sparkle was pointing "north".

"So close?" asked Don, looking around. "Hey, bring that light over here!"

Susan stepped closer to him, and saw what he was staring at. There was a statue of a dragon like creature up on its hind legs against one wall.

"I think there's a secret passage behind this statue. Move the light slowly around the dragon, would you?"

"Sure." She did, and he pointed to the mouth.

"Yeah, there's a switch there that must activate something and move it out of the way. Let's just step through."

They did, and found that Don was right, there was a passageway behind the false wall.

"I walked right past it, didn't even think to check," said Susan.

"Don't worry about it, let's go."

They came to a medium sized room, then phased through another door and continued turning right. At the end of that hall sat Terry, eyes closed.

"Nice of you to show up," he said, standing. "It's been hours!"

"Sorry about that. We walked the whole thing, but there was a hidden door leading to this passage," said Susan. "You wouldn't believe the place he's got here."

"Well, can we leave then?"

Susan dropped _Phase. _"Absolutely. We're going to have to teleport, so you'll have to bear with me a moment while I read the spell over. It's not one I have memorized." She pulled her book of magic from her _Pocket Dimension _and started flipping through it.

"You didn't find any other way out?"

Katrina shook her head. "We walked the whole thing, at least those parts not hidden by fake doors or magic, and didn't find anything. There may be some hidden staircase someplace, but we didn't find it."

A few moments later Susan was ready. "I want to head back to the manor in case Mr Weasley needs rescuing, but you don't have wands. Wait a second… We could just walk the Astral again, pull him out that way."

"I'd rather go back and get a wand," said Don, "But time is of the essence. We've lost enough time as it is. Do what you have to."

"Done. Grab onto me, everyone. _Teleportation._"

The six found themselves outside the manor again, and Sparkle cast _Dimension Step_ on them again, taking them back to the shimmering mists. "Let's go," said Susan, striding towards the structure. They searched for less then fifteen minutes when they came upon a bloody and unconscious Mr Weasley, who was strapped to a metal table in the basement. He was alone.

"No carpets," observed Sparkle. "We should be safe to pass though and touch the floor."

"Our wands!" said Don, pointing. "He put them all down here. That was thoughtful of him."

"Okay, get ready," said Susan. "Grab your wands and cover the door. I just read _Teleportation _so it's fresh in my mind. I'll try to cast it as quickly as possible and get us back to the ministry. They have a hospital there, right?"

"They do."

"Okay. Everyone ready?"

The four went over to where their wands were sitting on a tray, and put their hands out to grab them. Susan turned back to the right page in her book of spells, and began focusing on the symbols. She stood next to Arthur. "Do it."

The mists vanished, and the Aurors grabbed their wands, then sprang back into cover, pointing at the door. Susan started casting, a circle of light around Arthur's table. Sparkle watched her, gauging when the spell would be complete.

"Get over here, now!" she shouted, and the others ran over to touch Susan.

They found themselves in the ministry building, and Arthur tumbled to the floor, no longer held up by the table.

"Crap, wish I knew _Regeneration,_" said Susan.

"I'll get him to the hospital wing, he's in bad shape," said Terry, waving his wand and levitating Arthur out the door.

"Now what?" asked Susan.

"Now we take a shower," said Katrina. "That place was awful."

"You spent most of the time phased, it's not like you would have gotten dirt on you. Anyway, I'm talking about the Malfoys."

"I know. You've done your part, go back to the Weasly's… oh, we better tell Molly about what happened, she'll be worried sick. She'll come here anyway. Okay, stay here, I'll go inform her. Paul, Don, take care of Susan." She went out too.

"He's not going to get away with it, is he?"

"Don't worry, he won't," answered Paul. "He'll be facing charges of resisting arrest, assault, possibly attempted murder depending on how bad Arthur turns out to be hurt. Not to mention the original charge of possession. We'll have to get a lot more people to bring him in though. If his foyer is trapped that well, who knows what the rest of the house is like."

"The trouble is how well connected he is. I don't know how he'll wiggle out of this, but you can bet he will somehow," said Don.

"We'll see," said Paul. "Will you be okay here for a while? We should go make our report. The sooner we can get on this, the better."

"Go, get moving. I'll be fine."

"Thanks for all your help. Your magic really is something. I'd be happy to have you by my side again in a scrape," said Paul, also heading out the door.

"What he said. You're okay in my book too." Don trailed after him.

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Susan remarked, "But we all came back, and Lucius dug himself deeper. I'd love to know where that dungeon was, maybe one day we could clean it out and set it up as a secret base!"

"It does have some possibilities," replied Sparkle. "But right now I'm taking a nap. I don't have as much energy as you do, you know."

"Sure thing. Thanks for your help, as always."

"Naturally."

An hour later, Arthur was awake and telling his story to the other Aurors, with his wife and Susan by his side.

"Sorry to put you through that, Mr Weasley," said Susan. "It's a weakness of our magic. If we go unconscious, it goes away. Didn't think he would go so far as to trap his own house like that."

"Neither did I, so don't worry about it. You didn't do wrong, and I'm just glad you made it out safely. I'll be fine, so don't worry. Not sure I'm getting that raise though…"


	19. Chapter 19

19

Back to School

Time: The day before the train ride back

Place: The Burrows

Naturally, Fred and George were quite keen to hear all about the adventure Susan had in the labyrinth. She downplayed it, as there was really no danger she faced, being _phased _the whole time, but they drank up descriptions of the giant creatures and possible traps. They even offered to help her clean it out if they could have a part of it as their secret base, and Susan said she would think about it.

The papers quickly picked up the "Scandal at Malfoy Manor" when a squad went to bring Lucius in, which succeeded. The ministry was now trying to figure out what to do with him, as they didn't really want to lose the money he provided them.

_I guess even in this world there's two sets of laws- one for the rich, and one for everybody else._

Arthur recovered quickly and was greeted warmly by his family, though it looked like Molly was going to have a long talk with him about the dangers of his job. The night before they left, Arthur took Susan aside.

"I want to thank you for the chance you gave me," he said. "Even if it didn't work out. And that wasn't your fault, so please don't feel bad about it. We couldn't have known he would go that far. I hope you realize that."

"It made me realize you can't ever plan for every contingency, and sometimes just have to muddle though with what you know."

"That'll be true all your life, I'm afraid. Still, he was taken in, and even if he gets off, he'll be taken down a peg and maybe think about changing his life."

Susan looked at him.

"We can hope, can't we?"

"I'm worried he'll go after you though, or send someone after you."

He shook his head. "Even he wouldn't be that reckless. Something like that would implicate him even further. And I'm not worried about being here, again thanks to you." He tapped the walls.

"Just be careful, okay? I have overconfidence enough for the both of us."

"I will."

Susan insisted Ron and Harry be ready to go the next day, and shoved all their baggage for school into her _Pocket Dimension_ so they wouldn't need to rush around the next morning. Thus, the three enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while everyone else was rushing about doing their last minute preparations.

"Honestly," said Susan, looking over her character sheet. "It's not like I have _Always Prepared _or anything, and yes, my REAson is an 8, but still you would think they'd be a little more organized about the whole thing. They've been doing it how many years now?"

_Twenty XP? That last dungeon really did it for me. Of course I haven't learned any new spells in ages. What should I learn, I wonder?_

"Channeling Hermione, are you?" asked Ron.

"It does sound like something she would say, doesn't it?"

"Do you still think we need to worry about Dobby's warning?" asked Harry.

"I'm not sure," replied Susan. "With Mr Malfoy now consumed in his legal battle with the ministry, he won't have much attention to spare to mess up the school. Unless he wasn't going to be the one, and was just meeting about it when Dobby overheard."

"He was too vague anyway," Ron put in. "We can't plan for something based on 'chaos at the school' now can we?"

"I guess you're right," said Susan, putting her sheet away. "I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open."

Getting onto the train was uneventful, and they found Hermione right away and sat down with her in a cabin. Susan was telling her about the labyrinth when the door slid open. Draco was standing there.

"You did it, didn't you?" he asked, his characteristic sneer once again firmly affixed.

_Crap, did he hear me? _Susan could feel the dice rolling in her head, coming up with a 4 on her _Persuasion _check.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Draco. Did what?" she said, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere.

"You got those Aurors into my father's house. They just appeared out of nowhere, and you can't Apparate into the house, just like Hogwarts. But I bet your magic could have gotten them in. And then when they disappeared from their cells? I bet that was you, too. You were there, weren't you?"

_Thank goodness I don't have _Compulsive Honesty, thought Susan.

"Oh, so just because you think it would have been hard to do, it was automatically my fault when some powerful wizards break your defenses down, is that it?"

"What about that Weasley fellow? He changed back awfully fast after the trap went off. That seems like your magic as well."

"Look Draco, I'm sorry about what happened to your father," she lied, "But face facts. He's into a lot of dark magic stuff that's illegal. Sooner or later he was bound to get caught somehow."

"I know you did it, and I'll pay you back somehow." He stormed off, Crab and Goyle trailing behind him.

Susan sighed. "If only that loyalty wasn't so misplaced."

"What are you going to do?" asked Hermione.

"Do? Nothing. I took Voldemort last year, thinking it was just a show for the others. What do you think would happen if I got serious?"

There was a pause.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

At dinner, Ron kept looking around nervously. They had sat back to back from each other at the tables, sitting with their respective houses.

"Don't worry, Draco isn't going to spring out from under the bench and curse us or anything," said Susan.

"It's not that. I just get the feeling something isn't right. Like I'm in trouble somehow but I don't know how."

"What?" asked Harry. "I'm used to Susan saying bizarre things- don't give me that look, you know it's true. But… actually I think I kind of know what you mean. It's the weirdest feeling like we shouldn't be here, or something."

"Where else would you be? At least no one tried to kill me this year coming into the castle."

"Good point. It's like Deja Vu, only rather then feeling I've done something before it's that I should be doing some else."

Susan and Hermione looked at each other. "Yeah, whatever you say, guys."

Everyone had a good time at the feast, and Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor. Albus gave his usual speech and noted again that the forbidden forest was still a dangerous place. No out-of-bounds corridor this year, noted Susan, so the Stone was either back in the hands of its original owner or still safely tucked away in a _Pocket Dimension. _

School had officially begun.

Susan's Wednesday schedule was light, given her not taking Transfiguration or Potions class, so she sat down in the courtyard to decide where to spend some of her XP. She had just come back from her first Herbology class, in which she made Sparkle wait outside. There were no earmuffs made for cats, after all. She was having trouble pulling her baby mandrake out, then decided to get smart. She went outside where Sparkle was just laying down for a nap and had her cast _Energetic Accumulation _on her. Going back inside, she gathered energy for two actions, _then _made her STRength check to pull the thing out.

She got a 26.

Then she did the same thing to plunge it into the larger pot, getting a 38 this time, and almost driving it into the floor. She dusted her hands off and watched with some amusement as the others struggled with this task. Of course she couldn't keep that up, but then she got smart_er_. She cast _Telekinesis _on the next one, and made it look like she was pulling it up, but in reality she was just using magic. That went much better, and soon had a row of the plants repotted, while others were still working on their second or third. She shook her head.

"You certainly have an aptitude for it," said Professor Sprout, once the task was complete. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

"It's all in the wrist," Susan said, looking away.

She was now talking spell selection over with Sparkle, who was also choosing some spells to learn.

"I use _Teleportation _all the time," said Susan. "It's annoying to have to keep taking the book out for it. But if I do turn that underground area into a secret base, I'll need a way of carrying supplies and stuff down into it. And if I'm going to share it with the twins, they'll want to take their own stuff down there. I wonder…" She closed the book, then put her hand on the top. "I want a spell that will open a hole in space between two places and allow me to carry stuff through," she said to it. "We'll see what it comes up with tomorrow. Meanwhile, if I assume it'll be a grade 10 spell, that still leaves me with 10 XP to spend. Let's see…"

Suddenly, a glowing phoenix swooped down on Susan and she looked up. Professor Dumbledore's voice said to her: "Susan, welcome back. If you're not doing anything important at the moment, can you come and see me? Your password will be Hard Lemonade." The creature vanished.

_What's up with the lemon theme and this guy anyway?_

"I guess new magic will have to wait," said Susan, snapping the book closed. "Looks like we're wanted."

Traveling to the statue of the phoenix, Susan said "Hard Lemonade" and stepped on the stair as it rotated upwards, carrying her to the Headmaster's office. She stepped inside.

"Welcome again, Susan," he said, standing up from his desk.

"Thank you Headmaster. It's good to be back."

"No trouble, over the summer, I hope?"

"Just a little of my own making, I'm afraid."

"Yes, I read about your adventure. From the official report, not the news article. Much more informative that way, don't you think?"

"I should hope so." She paused a moment. "Headmaster, do you think I did wrong?"

"That's not really for me to say. It's for history to decide. I've done things I thought were right at the time, but which turned out to be wrong. In fact, the wish to avoid that here is what's inspired me to call you. I think you'll remember this?"

He spilled a gold ring onto the desk, carefully not touching it.

"I do. Does it still have that piece of _him _inside?"

"I fear that is the case. I have tried many means of disposing of it, but I cannot. I had hoped you might have some ideas."

"May I ask exactly what you've tried?"

"Ah, various spells, potions and physical things like crushing. It cannot be melted, either magically or with mundane fire. I have tried disintegrating it outright, smashing it, dissolving it both in magical potions and in the more mundane aqua regia. I admit I am at a loss."

"Immune to magic and physical forces? But of course if I was putting my soul inside an object, I would want it to be sturdy." She glared at the object for several minutes, mulling it over.

"Susan?"

"I don't know how it might react, and if it does work, I'm basically committing murder. Oh, I know the things he did, he perhaps deserves death, but many who deserve life are denied it. By killing him, do I not take a step closer to becoming him?"

"Ah, Tolkin. Even the wise can't see all ends, is the quote if I'm not mistaken."

"Exactly."

"Do not think of it as ending a life," said Albus. "Think of it as releasing a tormented soul from bondage, and letting nature take its course."

"I will not undertake this task lightly."

"But you do know of a way?" Albus leaned closer.

"I'm not sure," replied Susan slowly, opening her book to the Neptune section. "_Destroy Magic, _if cast on a person, will take away their ability to use magic forever. If cast on an area, no magic will function in that area ever again. Cast on an object- the trouble is your magic and mine are so different. This ring just has wand magic charms on it that make it tough to deal with. It hasn't been _Imbued _because that doesn't exist for wand wizards. So what would happen if I cast this spell onto it? Maybe nothing. Maybe it'll bounce off and hit me, destroying my ability to use magic. It's not something I'd want to fool around with, in any case. As a last resort I'm willing to try, but short of that..."

"I understand your concern. There are no others that are less severe?"

"There's _Destruction _that can just turn something into a powder, but I doubt that would work if the ring is proof against that sort of thing with your magic. Wait a minute!" She flipped some pages. "Yes, there's a lesser grade spell. _Dead Magic. _It just creates an area where magic stops working temporarily. We could just melt the ring down or dissolve it with mundane means after taking it into that area!"

"I will think about what the effect of that might be, as taking it out of that area again may be troublesome. In any case, it does not need to be performed right this minute, the ring is safe with me. If you should come across a spell you think might serve- Will you be returning to your _Imbuing _this year, as you did last year? You may again use my office if you so choose, and I will be happy to provide the ingredients."

"I was just looking through my book for interesting things I could learn and do this year when you called me."

"Then you have my apologies for interrupting you. If you let me know what you come up with, I will keep your password active just as with last year."

"Thank you!"

So Susan went down and paged through her book for quite a while. She didn't see any really tough spells she wanted at the moment, but there were some useful ones, like _Cut, Immobilize, Deflection, _(in case Sparkle wasn't around for some reason)and _Scribe _thatshe couldn't fail to learn in a few minutes. So she did. Sparkle picked up _Regeneration _and _Illusion, _of all things.

She thought about making a _Communication _item, but the requirement was "the ear of an intelligent creature" so that was out at the moment.

_Maybe_ _Headmaster Dumbledore can come up with something. I suppose if nothing else, Sparkle could cast regeneration on herself and offer one of her ears. She's intelligent._

A _Literacy_ item, using energy, would be easier to come up with, and the Headmaster might appreciate reading books in lost languages. He seemed to have a fairly large library in his office. That decided, she went back up to see him and begin the _Imbuing _for an hour before her last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Which began with a story of how Harry met the boy Colin who seemed to be a photography nut, and got into a scrape with Malfoy.

"Sorry I wasn't there," said Susan. "I got so wrapped up in my _Imbuing _I lost track of time. But then it may have been worse if I had been there, given how Draco feels about me at the moment."

"I wondered why we didn't see you at lunch," said Hermione. "Did you get anything to eat?"

"Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore got me some sandwiches. But then he had to remind me to get to my next class, so here I am."

"You really got that wrapped up in it?" asked Ron.

"You have to understand, _Imbuing _is complex, but knowing you're making something that can help someone out? It's amazing to watch the magical energies winding themselves around the object. You just want to see it done, so it sort of consumes your attention."

"I guess like me watching Quidditch."

"Yes, if watching others play a sport contributed to the world in any way. Wait, did I say that out loud?"

"Very funny," said Ron.

"Thanks."

And then Professor Lockhart swept into the room, smiling for all he was worth. "Welcome everyone! I'm sure you all know me, after all, I see you've all got my books there. Except you, Susan, I see. Or did you just forget them?"

"I donated mine to a worthy cause," said Susan, thinking about the Weasley family not needing to buy a set for Ron. He colored. After she had bought a set and started reading them her astonishment turned to anger. That anger had burned nearly a month, and was now seeking a channel of release.

That channel was before her.

"I read them already, and I have to say I was disappointed. They really had nothing whatsoever to do with the class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, as they mostly involved you saying how great you were. This class is supposed to be about defending ourselves from dark magic. That's not going to happen sitting here and reading about what your favorite color is. Though I'm sure the class would be very interested in the wand movement for the incantation that reverted the werewolf who was still under the light of the full moon. As I understand it, only a certain potion, drunk before the moon rises on the days of the full moon, can counteract the change. I asked Headmaster Dumbledore about it, you see, because my magic can do something similar, and thought it fascinating. He instructed me as to the potion."

Gilderoy stared at her, taken aback.

"No? Not going to show us? Interesting." She stood up. "See, our last Defense professor, Quirrell, didn't teach us a lot of spells directly. What he did teach us was that we could learn and adapt to spells being cast at us in the heat of battle. Pay attention to the wand movement, he said, and you know roughly what a wizard is going to cast. Make the some movement and say the same words, and you can use the spell too. All while under fire. I've read your books, so called Professor Lockhart, and I don't see a shred of truth in them. You want to impress me? You want to teach me? Prove you can beat me- I challenge you to a wizard dual, right here, right now. If you win I'll gladly sit here and learn what you have to teach. But if you can't beat me, and you can't, by the way, I have more important things to be doing."

_Whoops. I guess that got away from me, a bit. But seriously, who does this guy think he is? Making a family that poor buy all those sets of his worthless books..._

The class was dead silent. Everyone was staring at Susan, who was standing with her arms crossed, staring at Gilderoy. They slowly looked back at him, trying to figure out what he would do.

He bust out laughing.

"Albus told me you were a firecracker! Looks like he was right. Bravo. Of course you would want to know if the man who said he could train you really could train you. It's only natural! I heard about your dual with Professor Quirrell, I'm sure you could take me with one hand behind your back. But don't worry, you won't regret sitting my classroom, I assure you."

_I already do._

"Now then, I've prepared a little quiz for you based on my books. Nothing to worry about, just me wanting to see how well you know the man, the legend."

_You're just going to ignore me, then? I see. _Susan sat down.

There was silence as the papers were passed back, and Susan read over the questions. Predictably, they all related to Lockhart, not about what he had done, or how he had done it, but about him, personally.

_How can we fit in the same room with this man's ego?_

Susan debated it, but in the end, crumpled her parchment up, and sat staring at Gilderoy the entire half hour the others were writing. He pretended not to notice.

Passing the papers back, Susan put her crumpled ball on the stack and handed it in. Again, he pretended not to notice as he put it on his desk. He started looking through them, but his eyes kept darting nervously over at Susan.

"Well, it seems Hermione was the only one who got all the questions right, including my secret desire. Well done, Hermione! Raise your hand please, so I can learn your face."

"How could you?" asked Susan, glaring at Hermione. She shyly put her hand up.

"Excellent. Ten points to Ravenclaw. I should take a point off for your paper, Susan, but I can see you feel very strongly about things. No trouble. Perhaps you can impress us with your magic in my next little task."

He pulled a covered cage out from behind his desk, which rattled and made funny squeaky noises.

"I'm going to open this cage in a moment, letting out what's inside. I challenge you, Susan, to subdue the creatures by yourself! How does that sound?"

_Sounds like I learned Immobilize just in time._

"It doesn't sound like the dual I asked for. Tell you what- let them out and time me dealing with them, and then we'll let them out again and time you dealing with them. See who gets the better time- how does that sound?"

"Now, now, it's not a competition, after all. Ready?" He whisked the cloth away from the cage, and about a dozen tiny creatures struggled to get out.

Susan looked down, and there was a magic circle around her, being created by Sparkle who was sitting under her. Susan felt the world slow, and realized Sparkle had cast _Acceleration _on her. She smiled.

_Acceleration gives me a bonus to all REFlex based checks, which Immobilize falls under! Still, there would be a ton of tiny creatures rather then fewer larger ones. However, _her eyes lit up, _being a −4 size modifier means their STRength check to break free is going to be miniscule. With my max energy and the bonus from Acceleration, I should be fine though._

"GO!" shouted Gilderoy, slowly opening the cage, from her point of view. Susan started casting, taking all the extra time she could (2 segments) making her casting time all of a second and a half.

"_Immobilize_!" she shouted, making a grabbing motion with her hands. The last one hadn't even cleared the door of the cage before magical bands wrapped around them all, (with a total of 19 on the check) making them plummet to the ground. She calmly got up and started picking them up, tossing them back into the cage one at a time. She had to shake it a bit to get them all to fit, but when she was sure she had gotten them all, she closed the cage and let the spell go. They immediately started rocking it and gibbering again.

"Anything else I can do for you, 'Professor', before we see your time at the task?"

Suddenly, a magical bell sounded throughout the school.

"Perhaps another time then, that's all the time we have for today. See you all tomorrow!" Gilderoy nearly ran up the steps of the classroom and out the door.

Susan picked up the cloth and arranged it on the cage, which quieted the creatures down.

"That was amazing," someone said. "You actually got them all at once, and you didn't even have your wand out!"

_Shoot, I forgot all needing to wave that thing around. Oh well._

"Let's just hope his next so called lesson is a little more relevant," said Susan. "You guys coming?"

"Did you have to bully him?" asked Hermione, putting her books away.

"Bully? Hermione, the man claims to have fought werewolves and banshies. Traveled to exotic lands and slain mighty foes. What do you think Professor Quirrell would have done, had I said those things to _him_? Laughed them off? No, we would have dueled, right then and there. Do any of you still believe a word that man wrote is true?"

Everyone in class stopped packing up and looked at her.

"I don't," said Nevill. "I stand behind Susan. We need to have Professor Quirrell back. Or failing that, some better classes. I didn't learn a thing today!"

"Well said, Nevill," said Susan.

"I think we should have Susan teach us!" said another girl in the class. "She was Professor Quirrell's referee all those times, after all. And no wonder, after she beat him in single combat! Or whoever it was that looked like him, anyway. Who better?"

There was a general murmur of agreement, though Draco and his two "bodyguards" stormed out.

"I appreciate the offer, but honestly my magic won't translate. You saw me capture those pixies or whatever they were. I can't teach you the kind of magic I do, I'm sorry. But if you wanted to learn more charms on your own, or start up a dueling club where anyone can join, I would be happy to oversee that."

Everyone bust out smiling, and people were nodding and whispering excitedly.

"Tell you what," said Susan, grabbing a piece of parchment from the desk. She clicked her pen open (because she was not going to lower herself to use a _quill_ of all things) and wrote "Petition to replace Professor Lockhart" on the top. She signed her name under it, and slapped the pen down. "Sign if you want this plan to go forward. I'll take it to the Headmaster. If he won't replace our so called professor, I'll ask to start a dueling club and see where it goes from there."

"I'll sign," said Nevill, being the first to step up.

In the end, almost everyone did, even Hermione, though reluctantly.

She took it immediately to the Headmaster.

"Back so soon?" he asked, looking up from something he was writing. Susan slapped the parchment down on his desk. He glanced at it.

"Ignored your request for a duel then, did he?"

"No, you can't know everything that goes on in this school. You just can't!"

"Perhaps, but I could guess how your first class went. I'm sorry, but he must remain your professor."

"Why?"

He sighed and sat back. "Honestly? Because no one else would take the job."

"Seriously? I've heard Professor Snape would happily take it."

"He does not believe in the curse set against the position, but many others do."

"How do you curse a teaching position?"

"I do not know. But what I do know is that no teacher has managed to teach Defense for more then a year since I refused to let Voldemort teach the subject. They have all died, or disappeared, or flat out refused after the first year."

"I… see. So we're stuck with him, are we?"

"Who would we hire to replace him?"

"Our class today seemed to think I would fit the bill."

"Really?"

"Of course I told them it wouldn't work. My way of casting magic is too different. But I did offer to bring up the possibly of a club that emulated Professor Quirrell's classes from before. Let younger students learn from older ones, and give everybody a chance to practice."

"The idea has merit. Of course a qualified adult would have to be present at all times…"

"Of course."

"I'll consider the idea. It worked in the past, after all, and we still have the enchanted barrier he created. I wouldn't mind having a generation of children able to defend themselves, should the need arise. Yes, I will think long on it."

"Thank you. That's all I can ask."

"In the meantime, can I rely on you to be less, shall we say, vocal, about your current teacher?"

"I think he's a fraud, but fine."

"No doubt he is. But we have no proof he is anything other then what he says."

"Then what you're saying is I need to gather proof?"

"I'm not saying anything at all, just that the class needs a teacher, and for now, he's it."

"Very well. I'll explain things, and hope we actually learn something useful in his so called classes, rather then just how wide his smile can extend."

His eyes twinkled. "I hope that you do."


	20. Chapter 20

20

That Uneasy Feeling

Time: Several Days Later

Place: Quidditch field

The next day, Susan was delighted to discover a new spell in her book called _Teleportal _and read the description over excitedly.

_Create a magical passageway between two points that can be traveled through as long as this spell is maintained. The opening can be up to your rating in meters and can be passed through on either side. If an object is midway between the two portals and the spell is broken, the object will be shunted to the side it's closer to._

The spell was a grade 10 Mercury spell, with the same difficulty as _Teleport_. Susan was so excited she spent the ten minutes needed to memorize the symbology for the spell and got a 17 on her KNOwledge check to remember it.

_Over the summer I can make the twins an item to open a gateway to the underground maze. Of course I better ask Arthur to have a squad go down with me and disarm all the traps and get those creatures out of there. Maybe they could go live in the forest behind the school? I hear there's all kinds of weird creatures there now to begin with…_

It was now early Saturday morning, and Susan, Sparkle, Ron and Hermione were out looking for Harry.

"I've got that feeling again…" said Ron, looking around.

"What now?" asked Susan.

"Like something big should be happening." He glanced down at his wand.

"Why do you keep looking at your wand, Ron? It's not going anywhere," said Hermione, exasperated.

"I just feel like it should be broken, that's all. And I keep expecting to see Draco come through those doors. Not to mention I keep expecting a howler for some reason, like I was in trouble at home."

"Your imagination is running away with you," said Hermione, but she looked around oddly too.

They sat for a moment, Colin snapping pictures with his camera. Susan looked up at him.

"Where is he getting film from, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"It's not from the non-magical world, I can tell you that. We gave up film years ago!"

"What do you take pictures with, then?"

"As I understand it, a light sensitive material that can record how much red, green and blue light hits it across a very small area. That information is saved as a series of instructions a computer can recreate later."

"Say that again?"

"Never mind. The point is, where are wizards getting film from?"

"No idea."

Ron continued looking around nervously.

"Look, if you're worried about something at home, I could send you back there and you could check it out for yourself."

"You can do that?"

"I just learned a new spell a few days ago. Come on, we'll duck under the stands, no one should see us there. You can come too, Hermione, you might want to see this."

So the four climbed down and went under the bleachers, and Susan opened a _Teleportal _to the Burrows, making Ron and Hermione's eyes bulge.

"That's amazing!" said Ron, sticking his head through. "It's really home!"

"It really is," said Susan. "I'll hold it open, go on and check."

"Thanks a lot!"

"Couldn't you have opened it right inside the house?" asked Hermione as he stepped through and unlocked the door.

"Can't. Put a spell on the house so teleport magic won't work from outside."

"But you can get through the Hogwarts wards- oh, I see, your magic blocks your magic, our magic blocks our magic."

"Exactly. They're doing something else, not teleporting. As I understand it, I'm just switching places with an area of space at my destination when I cast _Teleport. _Or in this case, tearing a hole in the universe between the two points where the intervening space doesn't exist. A wizard using Apparation, at least as described, actually travels at high speed to their destination as though space is squeezing them from one place to the other."

"So if wizards studied your technique they could figure out a way to add that to the spells around Hogwarts."

"I honestly have no idea. My _Magic Sense _is pretty garbled when it comes to wand magic, though I'm slowly figuring out a few things. I have to practice away from places like this, where everything is magic. But at the Weasley's I did some poking around with it. I have no idea if wanded wizards have a similar skill. If you do, nobody's told me about it."

"I don't think so."

Ron came walking back, followed by his mother.

"I'm seeing it," said Molly, "But I still don't believe it."

"Hello Mrs Weasley," said Susan politely. "Hope we aren't bothering you too much."

"Hello Susan. No bother, thanks for putting Ron's mind at ease."

"But of course. Say hello to Mr Weasley for me, and tell him to start thinking about a team to clear out that maze we were stuck in. With this magic, I plan to clean it up and take it over next summer."

"I'm sure the four who were down there with you would be glad to help, but I'll mention it to him."

"Thank you. See you later!"

"Bye mom!"

"Goodbye Ron."

She stopped maintaining it, and the portal vanished.

Ron stared it where it was. "Can you go anywhere with that?"

"Nah, only a place I've seen. That's why I had to ask you for a picture of your house before. It works the same as _Teleport, _just the method is a little different."

"Still, it's pretty amazing. Let's get back to watching Harry."

Of course, the three didn't know that history had been changed. With Lucius now busy with his criminal trial, he didn't have the time to send brooms to Hogwarts. Without his father's "gift", Draco didn't become the team Seeker, and the Slytherin team got to sleep in that Saturday. Ron didn't curse himself (his wand wasn't broken in any case) and Hermione didn't get called a bad name. They still went down to see Rubeus after the training session, he was their friend, after all.

They found Gilderoy leaving his hut as they approached, and knocked on his door.

"Hey, good to see you all!" Rubeus said, sweeping them up into one big hug. "Come in, I'll get the kettle on!"

The house looked cleaner then it had last year, though of course the baby dragon had made a mess of things. Still, Susan remarked the place was looking good.

"I can use magic to tidy up again," said Rubeus, tapping the side of his nose. "And I'll show you the other 'fruits' of my labor after our tea."

They got caught up, and Susan realized the perfect person to ask was right in front of her.

"Rubeus," she said, "There's some large and possibly dangerous creatures I'd like moved out of an underground maze. I hate to just kill them, they're as much a prisoner as we almost were. Would putting them out in the forest be okay?"

"What sort of creatures are we talking about?"

"Let's see, some giant centipedes for a start. A very large scorpion. Some giant ants, and probably more rats then I could count."

"Do you think they were enlarged with magic?" asked Hermione.

"Now there's a question. If you could learn a spell to shrink them down again, they could be put anywhere, couldn't they?"

"You don't have a spell to shrink things?" asked Ron.

"Oh sure, but I have to maintain it. Sadly my magic isn't cast and forget, like yours. So I could shrink them, catch them, and then bring them here. But then they would go back to being huge again, so I wanted to see if it was okay to bring them here."

"They all sound like things that can take care of themselves," answered Rubeus. "And they don't sound any more dangerous then what already make the forest its home. Sure, they could be released around there, no problem."

"Great! I could just open a _Teleportal _in their rooms, and they would probably just walk out on their own. Thanks."

"Giant centipede, huh? I'd love to see that."

"I figured you would. I'll make sure to let you know when I'm ready to do it, you can help out."

"So what did Mr Smiles want with you, anyway?" asked Harry.

"Who? Oh, you mean Gilderoy? Trying to tell me how to do my job, if you must know. Ha! If he knows half of what he says he knows, I'll eat my boots."

"Safe bet, we've had his classes. I'm hoping to organize a dueling club to make up for it, like Professor Quirrell's lessons last year."

"How's he doing, anyway?"

"Last I heard, he was seeking out a monastery someplace. Wanted to just get away from it all for awhile, try and figure out where is life is going to go now."

Their tea gone, Rubeus invited them outside to see his vegetable patch, where some enormous pumpkins were growing.

"Now see? There's an example of what my magic couldn't do," remarked Susan, looking them over.

"They do seem to be getting along nicely," said Ron.

"Your sister said the same thing, she was around yesterday. Cute as a button, that girl. Though I got the feeling she was hoping someone else might be around, if you know what I mean." He looked over at Harry.

"Don't remind me," said Ron.

"It wasn't me she was looking for," said Susan, sadly.

That evening, as Susan was about to get into turn in for the night, she noticed a note on her bed. Picking it up, she unfolded it and began to read.

_Dear Susan,_

_ I hate to ask you this way, but I have a really embarrassing problem I hope your magic can help me with. I would just die if anyone found out, so can I please ask you to come down to the lake this evening at midnight so I can ask you about it? Again, I'm really sorry about this, and if you don't show I'll understand. But I think you're the only one I can turn to, so please come._

_ L_

It was nearly 11:30 by that point, so Susan activated all her charms (That's_ Flight, Detect Lies, Darksight and then Barrier Against Spells, _for those keeping track at home) and flew down there. Sparkle said she wasn't going to wait out in the cold for half on hour, and Susan said that would be fine. She was hovering over the water, looking out at the lake, when she heard a noise behind her. Stepping out of the darkness were six older boys, and Susan shook her head. All had their wands pointed at her.

"Seriously?" she said. "The old 'get her alone at night and beat her up' plan? That's all you've got?"

"You were stupid enough to fall for it," said one of the boys.

"Was I?" asked Susan, tilting her head and putting a finger on her chin. "Or was the trap actually mine, and I'm here to see who would be stupid enough to come and try to take me on?"

"We'll see if you're so cocky in a minute!_ Petrificus Totalus!"_

Susan looked over her shoulder. "You missed."

"Hey, she's floating," one of them said to the other, pointing at Susan's feet.

"Finally made your _Perception Check _to notice, huh? By the way, who did you get to deliver the note? It must have been a girl, boys can't come into our dorm."

"Like we'd tell you?"

"It was worth a try. Anyway, can we get on with this? I don't have all night."

The original boy looked like he was going to say something, but changed his mind. "Get her!" he shouted, and spells started flying.

_Seriously, you would think they would learn, _thought Susan, taking her time to cast _Immobilize _on them all. Apparently, one of them made their STRength check to resist (he rolled a 25, the max), and busted out of the magical bands of force that surrounded the others.

"Huh," she said, not expecting that. He looked around at the others, wondering what to do.

"Get us out of here!" the 'ringleader' shouted. The free one started casting spells at the bonds, but as they weren't a physical thing, nothing he could do would dispel them. He even tried _Finite Incantatem, _which actually might have worked, but he couldn't roll as high as she could, being a _natural magician_. (He was considered an NPC spellcaster, and so his maximum roll was 15, and he had to beat a 17)

Susan floated over to him, looking down at him.

"Run," she said simply. "You don't have to suffer their fate tonight."

He looked from her to the others, struggling to get free, and decided that as she was flying, spells bounced off her, and she had apparently conjured up bands of force without effort he was going to cut his losses.

"Sorry!" he called, as he ran away, though whether he was apologizing to Susan or his now ex-friends was unclear.

"Now, what do we do with you?" asked Susan, flying over to the instigator.

"Do your worst!" he said, enraged.

"An excellent suggestion!" said Susan, grabbing the wand out of his hand.

"No, wait, not that!" he shrieked, as Susan said "_Cut" _and ran her finger along the wand, neatly severing it into two pieces. She pulled the halves apart and shook the core out. She dropped the pieces, and floated down, nearly touching the ground.

"Amazing that you don't think about your own weakness until after the fact, isn't it?" she said. "I mean, honestly, you carry your source of power around with you, and wave it about to do anything. Get that wand away from someone, and they're just a non-wizard who went to a weird school. You would think they would be made of tougher stuff then wood."

She floated over to the next one. "I'll kill you if you touch my wand!" he shouted.

"You'll kill me?" said Susan. "You? Kill me?" She floated back a little ways. "_Elemental Attack (Fire)_" she cast, making a called shot to the leg. He went down, crying out in pain. Susan leapt on him. "You'll kill me? Really? This is the second time. The _second time_ I have had to defend myself like this at this school. The first time I let them get away with some easily mended broken bones. This second time I am taking your magic away, and you can all go to the Headmaster in the morning to explain why you all need new wands." She grabbed the shirt of the boy who was now crying out, his leg burned. "Do you know what I'm going to do the third time I am attacked? Send back bodies! You should be thanking me for this chance to learn your lesson." She grabbed the wand and snapped it, throwing the pieces into the water.

The third tried to bargain. "I'll do your homework or something, or maybe I can get you money. I'll tell you who it was that sent us!"

"Don't care anymore, you came with what, what, rape on your mind? I'm letting you off easy, boyo." Snap.

The forth was already sobbing. "It wasn't like that! Honest! My dad will kill me."

"Not my problem. And I don't care how you thought it was going to turn out, you came down here, wands out. The situation would have escalated, no matter what you individually had in mind. And that, oh helpless one, means you can't be trusted with magic." She went to snap it.

_ Actually, now that I think about it, having a spare wand or two lying around wouldn't be such a bad idea, _Susan thought. _As I understand it, a wand can be used by others, just not as well. And if I'm ever in a situation with a wanded wizard who has no wand…_

She opened up her _Pocket Dimension _and shoved the wand in. From his perspective, she just made it disappear.

The fifth was more stoic. "I understand," he said, as she took his wand. "You're within your rights, I suppose."

"I'm glad you agree." She also put his in there, then floated back towards the castle.

"I'll leave you out here a little while, so you can get the full experience," she said, turning back. "And I'll tell you this- before whoever sent you gets any bright ideas about attacking friends of mine who aren't as well equipped to fight back? I'll consider that an attack on my person, and respond accordingly. Tell them that, from me."

Without another word she flew back to the castle, and maintained the spell until she got to sleep, some time later.

However, they did not spend the entire time out there, as Albus watched her flying away in a mirror that had alerted him to the use of magic outside the grounds. He was deep in thought.

_On the one hand, she was attacked by 6 people, and she only injured the one. She could just as easily have killed the boy, but aimed at his leg instead. Using magic to assault someone is grounds for expulsion, so she was also within her rights to take their magic away, as that is what I would have done. Still, I fear one day she will go too far. The problem is, if Voldemort returns as I predict, Harry is going to need someone like her at his side in order to triumph. She hasn't done wrong, per say, but what can my magic do to stop her if she decides she doesn't need me, or this school, anymore? Could she become an even darker wizard then Voldemort was? She must be carefully more watched, I'm afraid, as it seems she is taking the right hand path, at this point. _

_ I'll send Filch out with a wheelbarrow to collect them, and we can talk about their punishment. _

It was going to be a long night.


	21. Chapter 21

21

Touching Hearts

Time: October

Place: Ravenclaw Common room

After her attack by the upperclassmen, Susan spent a little time deciding on another attack spell to learn, just in case. She settled on _Elemental Burst_ _(Knockout) _because honestly, she didn't want to kill anyone. Also, with her _Barrier Against Spells _she could center the _Burst _on herself and still be totally unharmed afterwords. So even if she got surrounded she could cast that a few times in quick succession, and take out pretty much any number of assailants. Being _Knockout _it also wouldn't hurt any walls or ceilings in the area if she happened to make it a little too big.

When what happened that night got out there was a further polarization between people being utterly terrified of her and worshiping her. Those that worshiped her kept pestering her about training and the dueling club, but she said Headmaster Dumbledore hadn't given the go ahead yet. Those not constantly retelling their version of her battle edged away from her in the halls as though she was some kind of rabid animal best avoided. She wasn't sure how to really respond to all of this, but she took it in stride.

The six boys that did the attacking received a very stiff detention package rather then being expelled. They were not allowed off the school grounds, Quidditch matches were off limits, and Argus gleefully put them to work cleaning every night. Susan heard about it second hand, and went about her _Imbuing _with Albus as normal, not enquiring why they had not been expelled as they should. She felt it was probably best to just forgot the whole thing and hope whoever had sent them had learned their lesson.

However small a chance that actually was.

She did see him looking quizzically at her for several days after the event, as though he was expecting her to bring it up. But she didn't, and the looks stopped.

Susan did discuss with Hermione why the boys hadn't been expelled, but she said "I can only offer you some theories."

"So? Theorize. I love me a good theory. Even a _Game Theory._"

Hermione gave her a funny look. "Firstly he may want you to get attacked. I presume you told him about how you gain XP, and you probably got some for the 'encounter' correct?"

"Not as much as I would have liked, but yes."

"Which brings up the second point. He knew you were not in any actual danger, which is why the amount you got was unsatisfactory to you. You have to actually be challenged to gain a proper amount." She looked resigned to something. "And I can't believe I just said that. Anyway, maybe he wanted to see what you would do. See how far you would go."

_I have said many times how dangerous my magic is, I guess. So that sort of fits._

"But that still doesn't explain why they're still here."

"Maybe this will. How many kids entered the school with us in our starting year?"

"Less then a hundred, I can say that for sure."

"Right. And we're the only magical school for an entire country!"

"There aren't that many wizards born, so?"

"So?" Hermione was exasperated. "So to lose six of them at once is a pretty big number, actually. Frankly the world needs all the wizards it can get, or soon they'll die out and be gone. My theory is, though it's not a _Game Theory, _is that expulsion is really only used as a last resort. If they stay out of trouble that'll be the end of it. The Headmaster doesn't want it to get out that six students at once were thrown out, especially Slytherin students who probably have wealthy, _connected,_ parents. Especially if it got out that the reason they were thrown out was attacking you, and losing. Not only losing, but having their wands taken away and broken by an younger person. You know how humiliating that is for a wizard?"

"Not really, I don't use a wand. But I could guess, it would be like someone stealing Sparkle while I was asleep. You're saying people would start to wonder about me, or why the skills of the six were so poor to let them be disarmed so easily?"

"Exactly."

"So likely a combination of factors."

"That's what I think. Also he may be using you as bait, trying to draw out whoever keeps attacking you."

"Better keep my _Barrier_ handy then, huh?"

It was now almost Halloween.

"We got invited to a what?" asked Susan, when Harry told the story of how Nick saved him from Argus.

"A death day party," he replied. "His five hundredth, to be exact."

"That's not creepy, celebrating the day you died," said Ron with a weird look.

"I think it might be interesting," said Hermione. "They could have a whole culture we living people are totally unaware of."

"Who cares about the culture of ghosts?" asked Ron.

"Aren't you curious about anything?" asked Hermione, slightly exasperated.

"Quidditch scores."

"Honestly Ron, there's more to life then eating and Quidditch."

"That's treason, saying stuff like that. Isn't it?"

"Anyway, I wonder if we should bring some sort of gift?" asked Susan.

"I know how we can find out!" Hermione said brightly, holding up a stone book on a chain. "_Research._"

And so it was a somber group, dressed in black, that walked passed the brightly light banquette hall and down the stairs to the dungeons. They didn't have any gifts, as such, as it seemed ghosts had little use for physical objects. However, each had thought of something they could do at some time in the future in his name, and would tell him later that evening. Susan had her "gift" in mind after hearing Harry tell of how Nick lamented his incomplete beheading. She was carrying the titanium sword she had made in a loop on a belt, and was going to try her _Phase _spell after telling Nick her plan.

"Someone else must have set this all up," said Hermione, looking at all the blue flamed candles lining the staircase. "These are physical objects, so ghosts wouldn't be able to do it."

"Who does do all the work around the castle?" asked Susan. "There can't be that many kids in detention at any one time, can there?"

"I have no idea. It isn't mentioned in _Hogwarts: A History. _It's probably just done by magic. Maybe the castle cleans itself?"

"Do you smell something?" asked Ron.

Entering the large chamber where the party was being held, Nick greeted the four with a flourish of his hat.

"Welcome! Thank you for coming. I actually didn't expect you to, I'm ashamed to say. I don't have much in the way of hospitality to offer living guests."

"Don't worry about it," said Harry. "We're… glad to be here? Is that appropriate?"

Nick laughed. "It will do. Come and meet everyone!"

Nick ushered them inside and started pointing out ghosts, of which there must have been hundreds.

"There are that many ghosts in the area?" asked Susan, astonished. "But of course they would all come, wouldn't they? Ghosts probably like a good party just as much as anyone else."

"There's actually very few of us," said Nick, "Considering how many died in the war. Most choose to pass on, of course. I must mingle. I understand if you don't want to stay long, just stopping in is more then I could have hoped for. Thank you all."

"We have some gifts for you later, so we'll come find you before we leave."

"You shouldn't have!"

"Go on, we'll talk later."

The four checked out the "food" table, and watched sadly as ghosts tried to taste the rotting food. Susan just looked thoughtful.

"Oh crap, she's seen us," said Hermione, trying to duck back behind Susan.

"Who has?" she asked. "Oh, hello Myrtle."

Myrtle floated over to the group, looking sad as usual.

"Good to see you out and about," Susan said. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I'm not sure I can enjoy myself anymore," answered Myrtle. "But I suppose it's a nice enough party. Who are your friends?"

"This is Ron and Harry. Guys, this is Myrtle, who makes her home in the girl's bathroom on the first floor."

"You haunt a bathroom?" asked Ron.

"It's as good a place as any, I should think," said Myrtle stuffily. "Though not many come and see me apart from Susan."

"Myrtle is… a little sensitive," said Susan. "Because she's easy to tease people do it all the time. When they're emotional it seems ghosts can interact with the physical world for what amounts to a single action. So she's always flooding the place out somehow. I've been trying to work with her to not take everything so personally, but it's not easy."

"It's not my fault people are so mean! And you're just trying to study me as a ghost, not because you like me!"

"What makes you think I don't like you? I will admit I've been trying to figure out what ghosts are, because I like finding out things related to magic. As far as people being mean to you goes, we've talked about that; you choose how you are going to react to what other people say or do. That power lies with you, and nothing can take it away. Remember that."

"I try, it's just so hard."

"I know. We'll keep working on it."

"Do you think you can help her?" asked Harry.

"I'm not sure," replied Susan, trying to brush Myrtle's cheek with the back of her hand. "Ghosts seem to be as much an emotional imprint on the world as a spiritual one. I think Myrtle died very horribly, and very sad. And there's nothing even my magic can do about that. You know I would if I could, Myrtle."

"I know. I'm sorry I'm so useless." She drifted away, her head down.

"I guess even your magic can't do everything," remarked Ron, watching her go.

"You are kind to her," said a voice behind them, and from under the table Peeves the Poltergeist arose. Peeves could go insubstantial if he wanted, but now he looked solid. "I'm not sure how to deal with that."

"Hello Peeves," said Susan. Peeves usually stayed away from her for some reason, probably because he couldn't quite focus on her. "It's frustrating to me. I've seen my magic do incredible things for people here. Impossible things, for them. But I can't help put to rest one sad, lonely girl. She might be my greatest failure, come to think of it."

Peeves got a glassy look in his eyes and also turned away.

"I've never seen him so civilized," said Hermione. "Did you do something to him?"

Susan chuckled. "No. But from what I've learned about the difference between a ghost and a poltergeist, Peeves thrives off disorder. One might say he embodies chaos at this school. Dealing with him calmly and rationally would then seem to rob him of some of his motive power."

"I'll have to give that a try the next time I see him," remarked Harry.

A moment later the band stopped, and Nick floated to the center of the room and said it was time for his speech. However, he was interrupted by figures, riding horses, bursting through the wall.

They were headless.

"Oh, come on!" said Nick.

The lead man spotted him and rode over, putting away the horn he was blowing from his head, which was being carried under his arm.

"There you are, Nick! Hoped we might run into you some time tonight! I see you're not too broken up about not joining us." He turned to the others behind him. "Broken up? His head's still attached, you see?" They laughed.

"Very amusing," said Nick sarcastically. "So glad you could stop by."

"Of course, of course- wait, are there live people here?" He hopped off the horse and set his head back on his shoulders. "How did you manage that?"

"We're friends of his," said Susan, stepping forward. "We were honored to be invited."

"Really?" He seemed skeptical. "Say, that's a fine sword you have there. Don't see many people carrying those around anymore."

"I'm glad you pointed it out!" said Susan. "As I have everyone's attention I would present my gift to Sir Nicholas, if he will allow me the floor for a moment."

"Please," said Nick. He leaned closer. "My speech is ruined anyway because of these buffoons."

"Excellent. Before I get his hopes up, however, there's something I'll need to try, first. Is Myrtle still here?" Susan looked around.

"I'm here, you're not going to make fun of me in front of everyone, are you?" she asked, floating up.

Susan shook her head. "You know, you don't have to expect the worst every time. Anyway, no, I want to try something I had an idea about after using this spell about a dozen times a few weeks ago. Come here."

Myrtle shyly approached.

"_Phase,_" cast Susan, becoming slightly transparent.

_Please let this work! _

"If there's anyone here that needs this more, I haven't met them," said Susan, and stepped right up to Myrtle. She threw her arms around her and pulled her close.

_Yes! It worked!_

Myrtle felt very weird, like hugging a cold, tingly energy field that was soft, and there were gasps throughout the chamber. For the first time a living person was touching a ghost!

"Oh!" said Myrtle, hugging Susan back, her eyes wide. They stayed like that for some time, in the silence that only ghosts and three other living people can achieve. Finally Susan stepped back and took Myrtle's face in her hands.

"Myrtle, you are not useless, or ugly, or fat. I think you're actually pretty cute, when it comes down to it. And every time you start thinking you're not, I'm giving you a hug, okay? That's the deal from now on, between me and you. Got that?" She smiled.

"You really do like me?" said Myrtle. "I- I can't. Oh my gosh!" She turned and fled, and it sounded like she was sobbing.

"That didn't go exactly as planned," remarked Susan. "But at least the theory is sound."

She turned to Nick, and drew the sword. "I can obviously touch ghosts now, as you've all just seen. My question for you, Sir Nicholas, is whether or not you would like me to finish the job started five hundred years ago and become a headless ghost."

There was pandemonium in the hall as every ghost reacted to this request.

_Maybe I should have done that in private,_ thought Susan and ghosts crowded around her, touching her.

"Quiet!" shouted Peeves, and the ghosts backed off.

"Thank you, Peeves. How about it, Nicholas? I can't guarantee anything, but I will make the attempt. Even if it does work, I don't know what it will do to you. Changing something about yourself after you become a ghost? Well, it's never been done. But my blade is at your disposal."

Nick didn't hesitate. "Do it," he said, floating lower and popping most of his head off. Susan took careful aim and swung, chopping through what was left of Nick's neck.

His head came off in his hand, and Susan held her breath.

"What an odd sensation," remarked Nick, turning his head to look at himself. "I do believe it's worked."

"I suppose you'll be wanting to join us now," said Patrick, the leader ghost.

"Perhaps next year," said Nick, popping his head back in place. For now I have guests to entertain, so I wouldn't just leave them. Go about your business and we'll see how I feel next year."

"Yes. Next year. Right. Very well. Come along then," he said to the others, who rode off rather more subdued then how they had entered.

"Thank you," said Nick simply, as Susan sheathed the sword and let go of _Phase. _"Putting him in his place was quite satisfying, after all."

"My pleasure," answered Susan. "Now, I think you were going to make a speech?"

"Yes, of course. My late lamented lords, ladies and gentlemen…"

"Come on," said Susan to the others. "Before his speech ends and I get mobbed again."

The four slipped out as best four caporal beings could, and were soon on their way back to the great hall.

"I'm sure they're still at it," said Ron hopefully. "We should be able to get something, right?"

Then Harry stopped in his tracks and started looking wildly around.

"What's up Harry?" Susan asked.

"You don't hear it? Shhhh," he replied.

Susan made a _Perception (hearing) _check and got a 12, one from her maximum, and thought she might have heard a slight hissing noise.

"It's going up, come on!"

_What is? _But before she could ask, Harry took off at a run up the stairs, and the others, confused, followed after him.

"He's gone mental," remarked Ron.

Susan shook her bracelet out of her sleeve and drew the sword again. Knowledge of how to use it again flooded into her from the _Augment Skill _spell on it. Whatever Harry was running after, she wanted to be ready. He stopped on the landing and listened again.

"Not here, it's going to kill! Come on!" He pounded up another flight of stairs, and the others wisely got their wands out. Reaching the second floor he wildly looked around and took off down the hallway. They covered most of the second floor without finding anything out of the ordinary, but down one lonely corridor Hermione spotted the fateful words, scrawled upon the wall as by a shaking hand.

_Twice have I been defeated by children._

_ This time a child shall be my salvation._

_ My revenge is loosed from the chamber._

"How did you know?" asked Susan, looking at Harry.

"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing.

"_Light,_" cast Susan, and the hallway lit up. "It's a cat. Not Sparkle, thank goodness. Is that Mrs. Norris?" She was bent over a puddle of water that glimmered in the torchlight, her tongue frozen in mid lick.

"We should get out of here," said Ron.

"Go if you want," said Susan, passing the sword to her right hand, leaving her dominant hand free to cast with. "Whatever did this might still be around, and I intend to make sure they pay for it."

They got little choice in the matter as fate decided the entire school should show up at that moment, stopping behind them. Now they were subjected to another kind of silence, as everyone tried to process what they were seeing.

Argus pushed his way to the front. "What's the hold up here. Move along. Wait, is that my cat? Mrs. Norris? Someone has killed my cat! You!" he pointed to Harry. "You've done this, haven't you?"

"We just found her like this!" protested Harry.

"A likely story!" said Argus. "I'll punish the whole lot of you and make no mistake-"

"Argus," said a voice behind everyone, and the crowd parted to let Albus through. He looked thoughtfully about the hallway. "I see."

"Return to your dorms," said Minerva, waving everyone on. "There is nothing more to see here."

"You were the first on the scene?" asked Albus, taking the cat gently in his arms.

"Yes, Headmaster," said Harry.

"Then I would like you four to come with me while I check on Mrs. Norris."

"My office is the closest, if you just want a quiet place," said Gilderoy.

"That will be fine," said Albus, striding off in that direction. Susan's ball of light bobbed after them and the students parted. There was more then one odd look at the sword Susan was carrying, and she caught a few whispers that it was the same one she had fought Professor Quirrell with the year before.

Entering the office, Albus put Mrs. Norris on the desk as the portraits of Gilderoy scrambled to make themselves presentable again. Susan looked at them in disgust. She then wondered if she should risk a _Magic Sense _on Mrs. Norris, or offer a _Detect Condition _spell, but the Headmaster was already deep in concentration so she just leaned on the sword and waited for him to finish.

The others sat down on the bench over by one wall and looked miserable. Both Severus and Minerva were there as well, with Minerva taking almost as great an interest as Albus in looking the cat over. Severus just glared at the boys, and Gilderoy looked out of sorts, not being the center of attention. He tried to bring the conversation back to himself.

"Probably killed by a very powerful binding curse," he said. "I know several ways to counteract them, of course, but a bit too late now. Such a pity I wasn't-"

Susan looked over at him, and he flinched back a little as she raised the sword point off the floor a little. "Be quiet and let them work," she nearly growled. Snape looked slightly impressed as Gilderoy's eyes darted about the room, but found no help.

"Yes, of course," he said softly.

For several minutes Albus poked the cat with his wand and tried various incantations, but nothing seemed to help. Finally he straightened up.

"She lives still," he announced, much to Argus' relief.

"How can that be?" he asked. "She's not breathing or anything."

"She has been petrified somehow. Exactly what means were used I cannot say."

"He knows!" said Argus, pointing to Harry. "He did it to get back at me for yelling at him about tracking mud into the castle. Or he asked her to do it for him!" He now pointed at Susan.

"This is not Susan's way of doing things," he said gently. "And the magic required would be above that which a second year, even one that practices as much as Harry does, could produce. No, I fear we must look elsewhere. Unless you have some ideas, Susan?"

"I would need to study her condition myself," she replied. "There are some spells that can tell me exactly what's wrong with her. And away from this castle full of magic I could do a _magic sense_ on her and see if there's a spell I could use to cure her, but it would be tricky. The petrification spells in my book actually deal with turning people to stone and back. Not just putting them into this sort of… stasis. So I'm not sure what to tell you at this point."

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Sure. We were on our way back from the Death Day celebration, and incidentally Nick is now headless. It worked one of the two ways I expected, so I'll put the sword back tomorrow. Anyway, we were heading to see if we could get something to eat from the feast when suddenly Harry said he heard something and ran up here. That's when we saw the words and about thirty seconds later everyone else showed up."

"He heard _something?_" pressed Severus. "Can he be more specific?"

"I thought I heard someone saying they were going to kill. But it must have been something else, just something I thought was words. And because we had been around ghosts all evening, you know..."

Susan, Hermione and Ron looked at him. "It's true, we ran all over the first and second floors," said Hermione. "That we came upon Mrs. Norris was as much coincidence as anything."

"I take it you three heard no such voice?"

"I just heard a sort of hissing noise, that's all," said Susan. The other two shook their heads.

"I see."

"It seems there are many mysteries here," said Albus. "But the good news is, even if Susan's magic cannot restore Mrs. Norris, our magic can. Once the mandrakes the students have been so carefully tending are fully grown they can be used to create a suitable potion for curing this particular malady."

"Oh yes, I could easily-" started Gilderoy, but Susan glared at him and lifted the sword again. "Yes, never mind."

"I would be more then willing," said Severus.

"Thank you," said Argus.

"As far as you four-"

"I think they're probably both tired and hungry," interrupted Albus. "Why don't you go down to the hall and I'll have some leftovers sent up to you. Goodness knows we've still got mountains of food left. Then it's straight off to bed, all right? We'll talk more about these mysteries in the morning."

They said their goodnights, and made their way to the great hall, where they found a miniature banquet set up for them.

"Works fast," said Ron, grabbing a roll and starting to butter it. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Did you really hear a voice?" asked Susan.

Harry nodded.

"You better make sure you tell him, you were pretty sure when you took off running. It's happening again, and he's forewarned this time, I'm afraid."

"Who is?" said Ron, his mouth full of food already.

"Voldemort, of course," said Hermione. "Didn't you read what was on the wall? _Twice I have been defeated by children. _That's Harry and Susan, in case it wasn't obvious. _This time a child shall be my salvation. _He's possessed a student this time, rather then a teacher. I'd love to know how, I would hope no student would be dumb enough to go looking for you-know-who like Professor Quirrell did. But this chamber and weapon business, that's what I don't get. Why would he need a weapon? Unless he was actually scared of you, Susan."

"Wasn't there some kind of secret chamber here at the school?" asked Ron. "I could swear someone told me something about that. Not Fred, I think it was Bill, he's fairly trustworthy."

"The question is, what can we do about it?" asked Harry.

"Not cast _Exorcise _on every person in the school, if that's what you're thinking."

"Why not?"

"I suppose I could, if I took it in batches. But still, that worked because Professor Quirrell was almost gone. Voldemort's soul had nearly fully invaded his own. Also he was touching the object that the soul was stored in. If he's smart he would just recede a little when I cast the spell, and then come back stronger afterwords."

"We don't have much to go on," said Harry sadly. "If it's not someone we know personally we won't know if their behavior changes, the biggest giveaway."

"It's a problem. Still, he likes grand things, right? Like the ring- look how fancy it was with that big, black stone. Look for something you would put your soul into if you were a dark lord."

They finished and started back up to their respective dorms.

"What did you mean when you said one of two ways when you were talking about Nick?" asked Hermione as they climbed the stairs.

"That? Oh, simple. They're not really people, right? They're a kind of emotional imprint on the world animated by magic. I guess. I haven't really done as complete a study as I would like. Point is, while I was holding it and _Phased_ the sword was phased too. So it could touch other insubstantial things. My thinking was that it would either complete the job of cutting off his head or make him believe that it could. I think a ghost is mostly what they believe themselves to be. That's why they still wear clothes for one thing. I mean, they don't get cold, right? And what's decency to a ghost? But they believe they should have clothes, so they do. Nick believed he shouldn't be headless, and so he wasn't. I changed that belief. Maybe. Like I said, it could have just been the sword cutting his head off the rest of the way. To test it I would have to actually wound a ghost with it, one who didn't know what the experiment was about. Blind test and all that. In any case, whichever way it happened, it worked, so he's at least a little more satisfied with his situation.

That reminds me, I should go check on Myrtle. She might need another hug. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Good night."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Tracking the Attacker

Time: The next day

Place: Headmaster's office

"How can I help?" asked Susan upon reaching the Headmaster's office the next day.

Albus looked at her.

"As you know what your magic can do better then I, wouldn't you already know the answer to that question?" he asked.

"Actually, I do. I just wondered if there was something specific you had in mind before I started work."

"That's very polite of you. What did you have in mind?"

"I'll stop work on my _Detect Lies _item for the moment and start work on a _Time Window_ _Imbuing _instead. Do you have an empty picture frame I could use? That would be best. And I'll need a stone or a torch from the hallway where the incident happened. The _Enhancer _is "An object that was present at the time and place you want to see" so hopefully that will allow the magic to be bound into the frame but still work at other times and locations."

"Wait, slow down. You're going to make a what?"

"_Time Window. _It's a spell that opens a hole of sorts into the past, allowing you to see events that happened. You have to be present where you want to look backwards, and you have to tell it the exact time you want to see, but otherwise I think it could come in handy."

"I should say so. Knowing exactly what was in that hallway when the attack occurred would answer a number of questions."

"That's what I was thinking. I'm worried though, whatever did this didn't use a spell, did they?"

"Not that I can determine, no."

"Great. Another blow for _Barrier Against Spell _rather then _Magic Immunity. _I should have just paid the extra points for it. Oh well."

"How long until it's ready?"

"It's grade 7," she replied, flipping through her book. "So making it energy based is probably out. I really wish you all could just tell me your RESolve, honestly. That means 50 charges…" she trailed off, writing calculations down on a sheet of parchment. "Figure about 60 hours. Working 2 hours a day, five days a week- 6 weeks from now. Ugh, that is not going to cut it."

"You could cast the spell from writings, could you not?"

"Sure could! I just thought this might be more useful then the other things I had planned to work on."

"Perhaps you are right. I wouldn't mind having such an item on hand, just in case. Would you be up to using the spell now, however?"

"I'll read it over, let me make sure I understand how to cast it."

"Of course."

Susan took several minutes and made her _Magical Scripture _check, getting a 15, beating the difficulty of the spell by 3. Then she used _Magical Theory _and got a 16, so she announced she was able to cast from writings and walked with the headmaster down to the hallway. Once there she looked around, and saw Argus scrubbing away at the words written on the wall.

"Hermione was wrong," she remarked, realizing something.

"About what?" asked Albus.

"She said Myrtle haunted a bathroom on the _first _floor, but last night the gang and myself went up a flight of stairs from the basement, then another set to get here. Thus, this must be the _second _floor, and there's Myrtle's bathroom right there. I know it well, I've talked with her many times. Odd I didn't realize it last night when she said it."

"Odd of her to make such an elementary mistake," Albus added.

"I know. Weird, right?"

Susan went stiff, a sudden chill creeping along her spine. She remembered Harry's words quite clearly from the night before: "If it's not someone we know personally we won't know if their behavior changes, the biggest giveaway."

_No, she was with us the whole time, _Susan thought. _There was no way she could be with us at the Death Day party and up here… but if there was some kind of chamber and she was compelled to open it, whatever was inside could have done this while she was with us._

"What's wrong?" asked Albus. "You look like a Muggle that's just seen a ghost."

Susan swallowed. "Professor, say I suspected someone of being possessed, right? Then I asked that person 'Did you do such and such a thing' and had a _Detect Lies _spell going at the time. If the person answered they did not, but they actually had _while under possession, _would that answer register as truth or a lie?"

"I think I understand where you're coming from," said Albus after a moment. "In essence, you're asking are we our bodies or are we our spirits?"

"Something like that. I should run that experiment with Myrtle, that might answer the question definitely. Or not, given that she doesn't have a body anymore. She's only spirit."

"I would be interested to hear the results of that experiment. For the moment, shall we head down to where the event took place and poke around?"

In reply, Susan snapped her book closed and stood up. "Let's go, but then I want Hermione pulled out of class and her belongings examined. Don't tell her what it's about, obviously, in case Voldemort takes hold of her or pulls away to avoid detection."

"My thoughts exactly."

So Albus and Susan headed down to the second floor corridor where Susan cast _Time Window_, asking the spell to show her the time they showed up (a known time) and then rewinding from there. After the words disappeared from the wall Susan started it playing forwards at normal speed again. What they saw wasn't that useful. A crying Myrtle dashed into the bathroom-

_ This should be right after I hugged her. She got that upset over it?_

She glided through the wall and a second later a splash was heard. Water gushed out from under the door and the two watched in anticipation for what they knew what come next. They were disappointed. Mrs. Norris walked from one end of the hallway and stopped to look at the puddle, as if deciding whether to drink or not. She did, but as she was lapping up water she suddenly froze and the words appeared on the wall.

"Wait, that's it?" asked Susan. "So what the heck caused it? Something invisible?"

Albus was craning his neck, looking at all angles through the opened window. "Do you have a spell to see invisible things?"

"I'm not sure that's necessary," answered Susan. "Look." She pointed through the window at the far end and rewound the scene. Playing it through again she watched the hallway carefully. "No footprints in the water. Someone invisible would make splashes. There is no one in this corridor but Mrs. Norris."

"That does seem to be the case. How unfortunate that this has only produced more questions for us."

"Like where is the writing coming from? Could this weapon that's been released have just been sent at random? And the words were spelled to appear wherever the first victim was? If that really is the case we got lucky it wasn't worse. Not that I wish petrification on Mrs. Norris, but it could have been anyone, even a professor!"

"That is certainly possible, and troubling. To not even have a target in mind, but to just spread fear and unrest by letting it loose. He is truly too far gone to save."

"You really thought, after all this, that he could be?"

"Allow an old man some hope."

"I think it might be too late for even that. With luck we can prevent anything worse from happening."

"Do you then believe we will find something by searching Hermione?"

"No, Headmaster, that would be far too much to hope for."

So the two went to collect Hermione from her Transfiguration class, causing quite a stir when the headmaster walked into the classroom. Naturally, Susan had activated her _Barrier Against Spells _charm, just in case.

"I'm afraid we must burrow your star pupil for a moment," he said to Minerva.

"Of course Albus. May I know what this is about?"

"I'm afraid even she cannot until Susan and I are satisfied regarding certain things."

"Very well."

A confused Hermione gathered her things up and left with the two, heading up to the Ravenclaw common room. They were't out of the room when Albus turned to her.

"I fear I must ask for your wand," he said gravely. "Slowly and carefully, if you please."

"Am I in trouble for something?"

"No, this is just a precaution. It will be returned shortly."

"I don't understand," she said, slowly pulling her wand out.

"You are not meant to. The wand? Thank you."

"I'll check her person, if you can check her belongings," said Susan.

Albus nodded. "Of course if it were me, I would hide it."

"I would hope it would need contact to work. If not we're all in trouble," whispered Susan. "Come with me," she said to Hermione, dragging her towards the doors and then into the shower area.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" pleaded Hermione as they entered.

"It's safer if you don't know for now. Believe me, this is for your own protection."

"My own- What is going on?"

"Please, just trust me for now. Can you do that? You know me, I wouldn't ask this of you lightly."

"Fine, but this better be good. Why are we in the bathroom, anyway?"

"Oh, this is really going to blow your mind." _And not exactly how I dreamed of saying this... "_I need you to take your clothes off for me."

It looked like Hermione as going to protest further, but then she just shook her head. She sat down and started undoing her shoes, which Susan held her hand out for. She shook them, then set them to one side. As Hermione took everything off she ran her hands along it, searching for hidden pockets. She didn't find any, and soon Hermione was nearly naked. Susan walked around her, checking her hair and ears for jewelry. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't find anything.

"Now may I be told what this is all about?" she demanded.

"Yes, I think it's safe. Basically the Headmaster and I suspected you of being possessed."

"What?" shrieked Hermione.

"You got something wrong last night, and it wasn't something you should have gotten wrong. So we had to investigate. You understand, right?"

"I guess after Ron got enspelled last year you can't be too careful."

"So now you understand why I couldn't tell you. If you were you might have bolted."

"I guess I can see that. Can I get dressed now?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry."

"Sure you are. So what did I get wrong?"

"You said Myrtle's bathroom was on the first floor, but it isn't."

"I did? That's weird."

"Yeah, we thought so too. Hence our whole operation. I was worried because last year Ron got snared because Voldemort would have only considered Harry to be a threat. He knows differently now, so I thought I might be targeted, through you."

"That's a bleak prospect."

"I just have to be careful, that's all. You too, if he's really wondering around the school again and knows what happened last year."

"This so called attack though, it doesn't seem like his style."

"That's a good point. He didn't seem like the mustache twirling villain of old. He had a goal, wipe out the wizard prison. How does this chamber and petrifying cats come into the picture?"

"I wasn't able to bring _Hogwarts: a History _because of all the Lockhart books we had to bring. Can I borrow yours?"

"You think anything will be in there? Anyway, don't you have that book memorized?"

"Probably, but it's a place to start."

"Come on, I want to tell the Headmaster you're all clear."

The three met up, and Hermione went back to class after Albus reported her possessions didn't seemed possessed. He thanked her for her cooperation and also cautioned her to be careful, given her friendship with Susan.

They headed back to his office, both deep in thought.

"So we've got nothing," said Susan to Harry, Ron and Hermione at lunch that afternoon. "No clues, no suspects, nothing. And if the Headmaster is stumped, I don't know what we can do about it."

"It's been pretty hard on Ginny," remarked Ron, looking over at her table. "Can't imagine why. I mean she loves cats and everything, but come on. She seems a little more emotional then usual."

The four looked at each other.

"Nah," said Susan. "If she was possessed she wouldn't be moping around about a cat, right?"

"Yeah, couldn't be," said Ron.

"So what's our next move?" asked Harry. "You say you and Headmaster Dumbledore checked the area for clues?"

"We looked into the past to see exactly what happened. That didn't tell us much. I'm not sure a further look would reveal anything, but I suppose it's worth checking out."

"In the meantime," said Hermione. "I can think of one person to ask who might know something. We have his class next, in fact."

"Who? Binns?" asked Ron.

"Of course. He's been around a while, right? Maybe he knows something. Come on, let's get there early and ask him." She started to get up.

"He's a ghost, remember? He won't be early."

"Oh, right." She sat down again.

Now in class, Hermione put her hand up, interrupting Professor Binns speech about some warlock convention.

"Can you tell us anything about this chamber that the 'revenge is loosed from'?" she asked.

"Are you talking about the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Binns.

"It has a name? So it does exist!" The class began to look interested for the first time ever, and the energy level in the room took a tick upwards.

"Hardly. Mere speculation and supposition."

"Still, if someone went through the trouble of giving something that doesn't exist an actual name, doesn't that mean it has relevance?"

"People named the Loc Ness Monster as well, but that doesn't exist, now does it?"

"I have no idea, I've never looked into it."

"The point is, this is History of Magic. That means historical facts, not legends about rooms that don't exist."

Susan started laughing.

"You find something amusing in that statement?"

"I do, Professor. To think that you actually believe history is about facts is astonishing. A history teacher should know better."

"Of course history is about facts! What else could it be about?"

Susan shook her head. "History is what we agree may have happened in the past, not a true record of what happened. It's written in the best possible light for those it depicts, and skips over that which is inconvenient or distasteful to those writing it. And so many things factor into it- religion, personal bias, the experience of the person recounting the tale. Take the dropping of the first atomic bomb- a Japanese child who lived through it and an American general would tell you very different 'historical' accounts around the single fact that the bomb got dropped. To say that history is simply the record of facts that led to our current situation is downright dangerous to believe."

"In any case," interrupted Hermione. "The issue here is this Chamber of Secrets. Can you tell us, possibly from experience, anything about it?"

"I hesitate to deviate from the established curriculum-" Binns looked around the classroom. Even a ghost would notice the difference in attention he was getting at the moment. "Oh, very well. But please understand this is only a story, not facts, despite what some people might think about their subjective relevance." He glanced over at Susan, who put on an innocent look.

"The story begins when Hogwarts itself was constructed. Four people over a thousand years ago helped to bring the castle into being with magic. Those four became the first heads of house and taught for as long as each was able. In the beginning the four worked together to find those with magical talents and bring them to the school. After a while, however, Salazar took to the notion that only people with two magical parents should be allowed to study here, the so called 'pure blood' wizards. Obviously the other three took exception to this idea, believing anyone with magical talents should be taught to use them. We know this from records at the time, which depict him leaving the school after many arguments with the other three.

Now, as far as this chamber is concerned; The story is that during the construction, Salazar added a room somewhere that only he knew about. As if he could have foretold his disagreements with the others and hidden something like that from them! Furthermore, he placed within the chamber some sort of creature or monster, which only his heir could control. At that time of the heir's return to the castle the chamber would be opened, and the creature released to give Salazar his revenge upon the other houses and non pure blood wizards.

So as you can guess, there are many holes in this so called legend of the secret chamber. Salazar was not the type to hope that someday a person would come along that thought as he did and start killing wizards. He would have acted, then and there. Also he would have no need for monsters, as even in those days the killing curse was known. Furthermore, the castle has been searched, and no evidence of a chamber has been found."

Several other people now took up the discussion, with Binns fending them off verbally. Hermione, however, was writing. Susan leaned over to see what she was doing.

_Chamber of Secrets_

_ 1) Can only be opened by the Heir of Slytherin. _

_ a) Why? Spell? Blood test somehow?_

_ b) Did Salazar even have any kids?_

_ 2) Has some kind of creature inside_

_ a) What kind of creature can still be alive down there after a thousand years?_

_ i) What powers does it have? Upon being released, only managed to petrify a cat_

_ b) Why can only this Heir control it?_

_ c) Why does it care about blood purity? Could it be commanded just as easily to clean the castle, or entertain people with songs?_

_ 3) How did Voldemort come to learn about it?_

_ a) Is it actually mentioned in a book he read?_

_ b) Is he the heir? Find out his last name/parentage_

_ c) He knows the killing curse, why would he rely on some creature?_

"We didn't see any trace of it in the hallway," whispered Susan. "Put down 2, d; Is it invisible?"

"Got it."

Finally class was over, and the four left to discuss what they had heard.

"So do you think there really is some weird chamber someplace?" asked Ron.

"Something petrified that cat. Something the Headmaster couldn't explain," said Hermione.

"Or lied, because he didn't want to tell us," said Susan.

"You really think he knows?" asked Harry.

"He's told me things, and made guesses about things I've done that are eerily accurate. I wouldn't put anything past the man."

"So why not tell us?"

"Because I have a certain tendency to run straight towards danger, or at the very least, not back down from things?" Susan smiled at him.

"I guess there is that."

"Come on, we've got some time, let's go check the place over."

The four came to the hallway, where the flickering letters still appeared scrawled on the wall.

"Odd that they haven't managed to get rid of them," remarked Susan. She looked all around. "Huh, crack in the ceiling there. Weird."

"Come and look at this," said Harry, pointing out the window. The others crowded in to look, and found a bunch of spiders vainly trying to walk through the glass. Susan opened it and they scuttled out.

"Didn't think spiders would ever act in unison like that. Maybe I need a number 4 on my list. What's wrong with you?"

Everyone turned and saw Ron across the hall, backed up against the opposite wall.

"I'm afraid of spiders," he answered.

"You out-mass them a million times. You can kill them by accident and never know it. How can you be afraid of them?" Hermione asked.

"I just am, okay?"

"Hey, if a man has _Phobia: Spiders _written on his character sheet, then _Phobia: Spiders _it is. I can't do anything about my _Curiosity _or my _Overconfidence _now can I?"

"I'm guessing no?" said Hermione.

"Exactly. Leave him alone."

"Sure, whatever."

"Let's ask if Myrtle saw anything. Or heard anything, because she was probably inside. There was water here, and that's her handiwork."

"We'll wait out here," said Ron, looking at Harry.

"Oh, come on you two. It'll be a naughtily little thrill for you. Don't worry, no one uses this one because of her."

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, and the two boys reluctantly followed her.

"Hello," said Myrtle, passing through the stall door. "Nice to see you again, Susan."

"Glad to see you in such high spirits," said Susan.

"Spirits? Is that some kind of joke because I'm dead?"

"What?" Susan rolled her eyes. "Myrtle, what have we talked about?"

"Sorry. It's just so- Hey, what are boys doing in here?"

"Living dangerously," replied Hermione. "We wanted to know if you saw or heard anything last night, out in the corridor."

"Not really. After Susan hugged me I couldn't handle it and jumped back into my toilet."

"That explains the water outside," said Harry.

"Then everything was quiet until that fuss that brought everyone up here."

"Pity. We could have used a break in the case," said Susan. "Say, Myrtle, how would you like to help us out?"

The others stared at her.

"Me?" said Myrtle. "How can I help?"

"I could do it with _Flight _and _Phase_, but I just don't have time. We need to find this Chamber of Secrets, and ghosts can pretty much go anywhere in the castle. I want you to start at the top and work your way down, going through every room around here. See if you can find some sealed off chamber that has a monster in it. Report back to me so I can take it out before it hurts more then a cat."

"You would trust me with such an important job?" Myrtle was shocked.

Susan shrugged. "Why not? It'll give you something to do rather then just hang around here all day. Right? Think about it, you could actually help save the school!"

"No one's ever… relied on me for something before! Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have asked, otherwise."

"I'll get started right away! Thank you!" She shot through the ceiling.

"Great, she's on the case-"

Myrtle came back down. "But I want another hug for this!" She took off again.

"I'll give you two!" Susan shouted after her, laughing.

"You actually motivated her," said Hermione, staring.

"Because I treated her like a person, not just some sentient energy that hangs around. I have to wonder, were ghosts used when they originally looked for this chamber? Or did wizards just 'perform some magic' and give up after not finding anything?"

"They are looked down up," said Harry. "And not just because they're ghosts. There's something deeper at work, like people seeing them a death. Or being reminded of death? I don't know. Let's go before someone catches us in here."

Good thing they didn't wait "a few days" to do all that, as in another time, Ron and Percy had a fight outside that very bathroom. However, he wasn't scheduled to walk past for another three days, so the group slipped out, none the wiser.


	23. Chapter 23

23

Mission Impossible

Time: Several days later, lunchtime

Place: The great hall

"He complemented you on your list of things to find out," said Susan to Hermione. "But he didn't have much to offer. At least that he would tell me about."

"That's too bad. There hasn't been another incident but I'm still worried it wasn't a one time thing."

"How's Ginny?"

"Fine? I guess? I don't talk with her much here in school," answered Ron.

"Oh, okay. The teachers haven't relaxed, I'll tell you that. Something's up around here. We just need a way to find out more information."

"Don't you have some kind of spell?" asked Harry.

"I guess we could try a _True Question_, but the description says the answer usually takes the form of a cryptic riddle. We don't need any more riddles, we have enough, thanks."

"What we need is to get into the Slytherin rooms and poke around," said Hermione.

"Why bother?" asked Ron.

"If there's any information about opening some hidden chamber, it's got to be there."

"Even if we could get in, like under Harry's cloak, we don't actually know where it is."

"Where what- oh, you're right."

"That's always bothered me," said Susan. "That the houses are not only separated, they're kept apart by hiding the entrances and giving those entrances passwords. That's never really felt right to me."

"Still, Ron's idea is okay on the surface. Harry and Susan follow a bunch of Slytherin students from lunch or whatever back to their common room, under the cloak. Then she can open a portal to their room any time. We choose a time when they won't be there, like during a Quidditch match, and see what we can find."

"Interesting idea," said Susan, thinking it over. "I can easily put the portal on the ceiling, and make it just big enough to look through. That would show us if anyone was there."

"I was also thinking, we could use Polyjuice Potion to disguise ourselves as actual Sytherins, just in case someone comes in!"

"Or… I just ask Sparkle to cast _Shape-Shift _on us and be done with it."

Sparkle raised her head from the bench. "Be glad to."

"That reminds me, she spent months poking about the castle, didn't she?" asked Harry. "When we first arrived here?"

"That I did. Before you ask, no, I didn't find any chambers with weird creatures in them."

"Pity."

"Also, Susan has forbidden me from wandering around at night as I used to, given the danger."

"That's probably smart," said Hermione. "You don't want to wind up like Mrs. Norris."

"My thinking is that with _Phase _cast, whatever made Mrs. Norris like she is wouldn't hurt me. Susan does not wish me to take that risk."

"Yeah, I may be _Overconfident, _but I'm not stupid. We can take risks after the mandrake potion is made."

"Want me to go get the cloak? We could do it right after lunch. The sneaking in part, anyway."

Susan shook her head. "No, I'll just cast _Invisibility _on myself. It's not perfect, that would be _Veil, _in case you were interested, but given my skill and energy I can pretty much disappear."

"So why not just poke around invisibly?" asked Ron.

"We might have to move stuff or open books, that's why. And four people poking around is more likely to stumble on a clue then one."

"Right."

"Start looking for someone to impersonate, then point them out to Sparkle," said Susan, finishing off her soup. "I'll find a quiet place to get _Invisible_, then follow some Slytherins. See you later."

Susan slipped out and went to a nearby bathroom, then cast _Invisibility _on herself, taking the whole extra 1 segment of casting time.

She got a crappy 7, but with 9 energy and the extra 1 from taking more time, she was confident she wouldn't be noticed. For good measure she cast _Phase _on herself so she wouldn't accidentally brush up against something and knock it over. She was at a −3 for holding the spells, but she didn't think she would be going into combat or anything.

It was odd, Susan found, to walking about the castle and not having people react to her presence. _Is this what it's like to be dead? To have the world just continue and there's nothing you can do to change anything? Is this what Myrtle feels like? No wonder she's so depressed all the time. _

It felt like being dead, as she could no more see herself then anyone else, and was thankful for _Phase_ keeping her untouchable as well as unseen. She chose the largest group of Slytherin students walking away from the hall, and nervously followed them down to the dungeons. They stopped in front of a stone depiction of a snake carved into the walls. Looking around, they made sure there no non-Slytherins about, and one by one touched the snake while speaking "Ambition" which must be their password. Susan watched as they disappeared, rather then stepping through a doorway.

_Don't tell me it's like the platform 9.75 gate! _

Susan stepped through, and found only rock on the other side. She sighed.

Stepping back through, she waited a moment to make sure there would be no one near where she came in, and dropped _Phase. _She immediately cast it again, but this time held onto it without finishing. Luckily, she was not attacking, using an offensive spell, or affecting another creature, so she stayed invisible. She reached a hand out to touch the snake and said "Ambition", and found herself elsewhere.

She immediately released her hold on _Phase _and became insubstantial again, then looked around.

_No, this place isn't creepy._

The room was lit with a slightly nauseating green light that emanated from several globes hung from the ceiling. There was a stone snake above the fireplace, and what looked like skills on the mantle.

_Wonderful._

As she looked around, several students were lounging in stuffed chairs by the fire, and she moved over to the window, behind them.

_Are we underwater? _She peered out the windows, which seemed to confirm her suspicions. _He wasn't paranoid at all, was he? Crap, if his chamber is like this, someplace you get teleported to that isn't actually connected to the castle, we'll never find it._

Listening to the boy's conversation it seemed they were as baffled as anyone as to the identity of the attacker.

_Good thing that's all anyone's talking about these days. Well, no sense in hanging around, right? Crap, how do I get out of here?_

Susan looked around, hoping to find a private enough place to drop her _Phase _and open a _Teleportal_. It didn't look like anyone was going to leave any time soon, showing her the way to do it, so she wandered through and up some stairs. She passed into the dorms, which weren't that much different from her own, and found a quiet corner. A few seconds later she was visible again, and walking down from her own dorm.

That evening, the four gathered in the Gryffindor common room and Susan told them what she had seen.

"That's probably why Myrtle hasn't found anything," said Harry.

"No, she hasn't found anything because she spends more time telling people about how Susan trusts her with this mission then actually performing the mission," said Hermione a bit bitterly. "I've been hearing that all over school now."

"Ah, let her have her fun," said Susan. "It keeps her occupied instead of moping around, and she's meeting all kinds of new people. Sure, if she did find it that would be great. But I'm not relying on that."

"Oh no. That means you're relying on us to find something in the Slytherin rooms!" Ron paled.

"It's the only lead we have at the moment. Harry, you're going to be our distraction. Your next Quidditch match is with Slytherin, so they'll be out there for sure. Don't disappoint me now!"

"In other words, don't catch the snitch right away if I can help it?"

"Exactly. Draw the match out as long as you can. That'll give us more time to look."

"I'll see what I can do."

As the day dawned, Ron, Susan and Hermione touched Sparkle as she cast _Shape-shift _on them, and they turned into Slytherin students.

"And it goes away when you stop… maintaining it, right?" Ron asked, nervously.

"Don't worry, you won't get stuck like this," said Susan. "Making a spell permanent requires a lot of work."

She opened a small hole in the air, and peaked through.

"Looks good, it's all clear!" Letting that casting drop she opened a bigger one, and they stepped through into the Slytherin common room.

It was hardly twenty minutes fruitless minutes later when the three were startled by voices. They had split up in order to cover more ground, and look for different things. Hermione had found a section with books and was quickly paging through them, while Ron had taken the staircase up to the boy's dorm and was tapping bricks with his wand to see if any sounded hollow. Susan was just looking around in general, trying to figure out of there were any hidden switches or compartments in the room. She froze as the people came in, but was off to one side and so not immediately noticed. She heard Draco's voice, and stayed still.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Draco was saying, laughing. "Trying to get away from that Bludger. Then wham! Wish it had hit his stupid face rather then his- hey, what are you doing here?"

Susan turned around. Draco was looking at her, and Crab and Goyle were both with him.

"How did you get back here before us? You were watching the match, weren't you?"

_Great, now what? Time to fake it, I guess. Why didn't I take _Deception _as a skill?_

"I was, now I'm here. Why do you care?" she replied, hoping she was being haughty enough.

"What are you doing, anyway?"

_I guess I might as well tell the truth, maybe he knows something. _"Just doing some more poking around, looking for information on this chamber of secrets."

"Ugh, not you too. Honestly, everyone around here thinks they're the Heir of Slytherin. Give it up."

"He must have left some clues around here."

"You think after a thousand years someone wouldn't have spotted them? Forget it. Seriously, how did you get here so fast?"

"Does it really matter that much? How's your father by the way?"

"All the charges were dropped last week, I thought everyone knew that."

"Oh, I knew that!" Susan lied. _Crap, I haven't been reading the paper lately. _"I'm talking about his, uh, reputation. All the charges were dropped, right? He didn't lose any standing in the community?"

"That's a weird question. If I didn't know any better-"

Suddenly another figure appeared near the entrance. It was Professor Snape, and he didn't look happy. He never looked happy, but in this case seemed more grumpy then usual. "What did you do that-" He spotted Susan. "Leave."

"Yes, professor," Susan answered quickly, and started up the stairs to the girl's dorm. She turned when she was just out of sight and peaked back into the room, but Severus was waving his wand about and she couldn't hear their conversation. _Pity, that would have been interesting._

The trouble now was, Hermione and Ron were trapped in their respective sections. Susan wasn't sure if she could climb the stairs to the boy's rooms, she knew boys couldn't climb the stairs to the girl's rooms in Ravenclaw. Casting any new magic would probably attract attention, given the magical light that was produced, so she was in a real bind.

_If only I knew how to get out of here! It may be as easy as just walking back through the way I came. But if it isn't, I'm going to look really stupid smashing into the wall there._

It looked like Severus was yelling at Draco, who was taking it in stride. She could also see Hermione looking back at her from behind a bookcase at the far end of the room.

_Well, at least I can get her over here._

Creeping up the stairs, Susan stopped in the hallway where the separate doors led to the rooms and started casting. She figured she was far enough away, and they were distracted anyway. A _Teleportal _opened behind where Hermione was standing, and Susan put a hand over her month, pulling her though and closing it. She jumped, surprised, but whirled around and saw it was Susan.

"You scared me half to death," she said quietly. "But what do we do about Ron? Hopefully he's smart enough to stay put, but what happens if Draco goes up there?"

"Don't know. Tell you what, why don't you go back for now, reduce the number of people that might get caught here."

"Wait, can't you just _Phase _your way over there?"

"Sure, but to make the _Teleportal _I would have to unphase. That might set off some kind of alarm or something, if girls aren't allowed in the boy's dorm."

"Oh. You need a spell to summon a person to you."

"There is one. _Telesummon. _It's grade 8 though, not exactly something I can cast from writings at the moment."

"There must be something we can do!"

"Wait, I've got it. Go get Sparkle, she knows a spell we can use!"

Susan quietly opened a teleportal back to her dorm room, and Hermione hurried off to find her.

_Come on. Come on!_

Hermione came back, Susan at her heels.

"Great, thanks Hermione. Sparkle, I need your _Illusion _magic. Go down to the foot of these stairs and create the illusion of what's already there. Put the circle on the ceiling, I doubt they'll notice it up there."

"What good will that do?"

"I can slip into the illusion and not be seen, then get Ron out from the other stairwell and _Teleportal _us out of here."

"Ah, so you want a quiet, covering illusion. Got it."

Sparkle cast _Illusion, _getting a 16 in the attempt (with 6 energy put in, minus 3 for already maintaining the _Shape-shift_) and if the others noticed they gave no sign. Susan slipped her hand into the space beyond the doorway to the stairs and was pleased to see it disappear. She carefully made her way over to the other side and stuck her head through.

"Ron!" she hissed. "Come on, we're getting out of here!"

"Thought we were done for," said Ron, coming down the stairs. "Where's your body?"

"Never mind that now." Susan started casting again, making another _Teleportal _there by the stairs. She kept glancing over at the others, and it seemed to be wrapping up, but she only needed another two seconds- _there!_

Ron jumped through the _Teleportal _and Susan followed suit, then went over to the other one she was maintaining and beckoned them though. Once safe she dropped both and Sparkle dropped both of her spells.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think I've been that scared for a long time!"

"What, you didn't trust I would get us out of that? HA! And again I say- HA!"

Ron was looking around. "Wait, this is your room! I can't be seen up here!"

"Sparkle could always turn you into a girl for the duration," suggested Susan.

"I'll just stay like I am, thanks. Let me off someplace, okay?"

"Can't put you inside your dorm, I've never seen the inside of it. How about behind Rubeus' hut? There shouldn't be anyone back there. We can head out to the field and see why the match got done so early."

The others agreed that was fine and they all stepped through. Rubeus wasn't around, so they headed to the field, which was almost completely empty.

Looking around, Susan was trying to find someone she could trust enough to ask what was going on, and not get a lot of questions about why she didn't know, when she spotted Gilderoy. He also spotted her, and turned, laterally running the other way.

"Something terrible has happened," she said. "We need to find out what. Now."

She spotted Neville, and waved him over.

"Hey Neville, how are you?"

"I'm okay. Weird match, huh?"

"Ah, we just got here, actually. What happened?"

"You didn't see? This one Bludger just would not leave Harry alone. And then when we went to grab the Snitch it broke his arm!"

"Oh no, I wish I had been there."

"So does Harry. Someone shouted they would go look for you, but he said you were busy and they wouldn't find you. That's when Professor Lockhart came rushing up-"

"He didn't!"

"He did. He tried to fix Harry's arm but all he managed to do is remove all the bones. It was pretty gross, actually."

"No wonder he ran- oh, when I catch that guy…" She made strangling motions with her hands. "He went to the hospital wing?"

Neville nodded.

"Come on folks, lets- Hey Neville, how are your parents, by the way?"

"They're fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just curious. Thanks for the update. See you!"

The three sped off to the hospital wing. By the time they got there, Harry was just downing a potion, and nearby him, a bottle with a bunch of bones on it sat on the table.

"Noooooo!" cried Susan, hand outstretched, screeching to a halt in front of him. "Crap!"

"I tried to tell her you would be along any minute, but she insisted I drink it."

Susan slumped over. "Sorry, Harry. This whole day has been wasted, and now this. But she didn't know."

"Know what?" asked Madam Pomfrey. "You kids shouldn't be here, this is a medical issue, after all."

"Know that Sparkle knows _Regeneration_. Tell me, how long until that potion works?"

"Overnight. Why?"

"I'm really sorry, Harry. I don't dare have her cast it on you now, the two magics might interact in some weird way."

"You really could do better?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Sure! Regeneration, at the level Sparkle would cast it, say…" she did some rapid calculations in her head. "Less then 8 seconds."

"You could regrow the bones in Harry's arm in less then eight seconds?" She seemed skeptical.

"You could chop off both his legs and with _Regeneration _going, he'd be totally fine again in less time then pouring a glass of orange juice."

"Let's hold off on proving that for the moment. I'll take your word for it. Ron can help him get into a gown, he'll be here until tomorrow after all. Then you can leave."

"Why?" asked Susan. "He's not sick. We won't catch his bones being vanished away by incompetent people. He should have us around to take his mind off it, rather then just laying there in pain. He can do homework!"

She sputtered a bit. "I guess you're right. Stay then."

After Harry was comfortable he got to tell the story of what happened.

"The match started as normal," he began. "But right after that something happened with the Bludger. Basically instead of just zooming around at random like it's supposed to, it was targeting just me. We were losing pretty badly because Fred and George kept trying to keep it off me. Finally I told them to let me deal with it and they went off to defend others, and I just started zooming around. I saw the Snitch, but as I reached for it, the Bludger smashed into my arm. I managed to get it, but it was a near thing. Sorry I couldn't give you more time, it just worked out that way."

Ron, Susan and Hermione looked at each other.

"What?"

"When we were in the…" she looked around. "You know where, Draco came in looking like the cat who got the cream. Then Severus stormed in and said "What did you do to that?" and then clammed up because he saw me. Looked like he was ripping into Draco pretty good after that, though I couldn't hear anything. He put up a silence spell or something. Anyway, I wonder if one has to do with the other?"

"Like he was about to say 'Bludger' before he saw you? It would fit," said Hermione.

"The question is, what do we do about it?" asked Susan. "We don't have any proof, and he could have been talking about something else entirely. It's only the timing that's suspicious."

"Still pretty suspicious!" said Ron.

"I agree. I think I'll take on Mission: Information Retrieval and head down to see if they're taking a look at the Bludger. You guys stay here, I'll be back soon."

"You got it."

"Wait a second- why didn't you just use your _Deflection _item to stop it?" asked Susan.

"Oh." Harry looked away. "I left it back in my locker when I went out on the field. I didn't think someone would try to kill me right in front of everyone."

"Did you forget last year, when your broom tried to buck you off?"

"I kind of did, actually. Don't worry, I'll keep it with me no matter what, now."

"Better to figure that out now then later, when you're ducking death spells. See you soon."

Susan went down to the field area, where Professor Flitwick, Headmaster Dumbledore and Gilderoy were looking the ball over. It was still and silent on the grass, while its companion struggled to free itself from the restraining strap.

Susan marched up to Gilderoy. "Nice job with Harry's arm."

"Thank- oh."

She pointed back the way she had come. "You may go."

He turned to the others. "Yes, well, as I explained, all quite simple. You can take it from here, right? See you all later! Perhaps I'll just go up and see how young Harry is-"

Susan looked daggers at him.

"Perhaps I'll just send him a card. I signed his books but I'm sure he'll love another autograph. Goodbye."

She watched him retreat, then turned to the others.

"How is Harry?" asked Albus.

"Doing well. I was too late to use my magic, he had already drank some potion, so he'll have to suffer through getting his bones back the hard way. He should be fine tomorrow."

"I'm relieved to hear that!"

"So what have you found?" she asked.

Albus' eyes sparkled. "Why don't you tell me?"

Susan looked over at the castle, then all around herself. "I should be far enough away that the top of my head won't come off. Give me a second."

Susan performed a _Magic Sense _on the ball, (getting an 11) and then on the other (getting a 16). She looked back and forth between them, then picked the inert one up and walked off a ways with it. Albus raised an eyebrow. She repeated the _Magic Sense, _this time getting a 14, and without the two wizards standing next to her, was pretty sure she knew what was going on.

"I don't think this one can be called a Bludger anymore," she said, dropping it again. "It's been stripped of magic, so now it's just a weird ball. That one, on the other hand, is magical. If one needed any more then a visual inspection to tell that. Based on this evidence I would say that somehow this Bludger was either wiped of magic or never had it in the first place. Then someone controlled it during the match, making it attack Harry."

"An interesting theory," said Albus. "How would you test it?"

"I would immediately grab Draco Malfoy before he has a chance to do another spell, and see what the last spell he performed was."

"That seems oddly specific."

"I have my reasons, but I can't actually tell you how I know that, or inform you that Snape probably knows something about it. Can't do that, so I won't. Now, how would I prove it?"

She thought for a moment. "I could cast Time Window, and look for someone concentrating on controlling it. However this place is huge so that would take awhile, they could hide anywhere. I could put _Detect Lies _on myself and ask the short list of suspects if they did it or not."

"Draco?" asked Albus.

"It's a short list, like I said. That's the trouble with magic, there's really no physical evidence left behind. I have no idea how I would come up with actual proof of anything. Not without days of spell casting, anyway, covering this whole place."

"Pity. I cannot exactly accuse Draco without some kind of proof, after all."

"I know. I'm sorry Headmaster."

"Don't be! I don't expect you to have all the answers. But it is troubling, that someone was able to do this. It could easily have been more serious, and I just let it continue so as to not stop the game. So the blame is mine. I will have to be more proactive in the future. Still, I can't help but wonder where Harry's friends were, in his time of need."

"Looking for clues to where the Chamber of Secrets is, naturally. We figured it would be best to do it with less people around." _Of course I didn't say where we were looking._

"And were any clues to be found?"

"We didn't get much time to look, honestly. As soon as we heard this had happened, we rushed out here."

"I heard you set a ghost to looking? Very inventive."

"Thank you. She needed something to do, and it's something she's perfectly suited for. So I figured, why not?"

"Why not indeed? I think we can pack this up," he said to Filius. "But keep it unenchanted, in case someone else wants to look at it."

"Will do," answered Filius, dropping the ball into the trunk, closing it, and levitating it behind him.

"I'm going to get back to Harry. See you later Headmaster."

"Until next time, Susan."


	24. Chapter 24

24

Coming to December

Time: The next day

Place: Hospital Wing

"How are you feeling, Harry?" asked Susan, early that Sunday morning.

"It wasn't pleasant, but I've survived it." He wiggled his fingers. "I have some news though."

"News? How can you have news laying in a hospital bed?"

He pointed. "Take a look over there."

Susan went over to a curtained off area and looked inside. "Hey, it's camera man! Whatever his name is."

"Colin. Whatever petrified Mrs. Norris ripped through his camera and got him. But there's more."

"Oh? Do tell."

"I got another visit from our favorite house elf last night."

"Dobby? What did he have to say for himself?"

"Basically he was concerned that he was wrong in allowing me to come back, because it looked like you couldn't protect me as you promised."

"And did you inform Mr Dobby that fact was because you left the item Susan had made for you behind?"

"I did mention that, actually. He made me promise I would keep it with me at all times now."

"Good advice. Anything else?"

"He let slip the Chamber had been opened once before. Little odd, that, don't you think? Headmaster Dumbledore played dumb on the whole subject, but it seems he might know exactly what we're dealing with."

"In his defense, we would go rushing off to deal with it."

"Of course we would. But we're going to do that anyway. At least if he told us what it was, we would go in _informed _rather then _ignorant._"

Susan thought for a moment. "You know, there was a book I read once. The characters were about to go face the evil mastermind, who was a great wizard. But the guy who fought him before wouldn't tell his apprentice anything about the guy. He said that if he overplayed it, his apprentice would get cocky and let his guard down. But if he underplayed it and the guy started pulling off all kinds of magical trickery the apprentice would freeze. So he said nothing, just basically to remember what he had been taught and deal with the situation as it arose."

"I guess that makes some sense. Still, I would rather know, I think, then not."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I might be able to whip up a spell that makes us immune to whatever it is, but sadly I don't know what it is."

"Maybe he doesn't know either. Maybe it's something different this time. Who knows?"

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Too bad about Colin. He'll miss a lot of classes, those mandrake things take an awful long time to grow."

"They are plants, I guess."

"Hey, we never talked about what you found. I guess nothing, because I didn't get you enough time, right?"

"I did speak to Draco, he seemed to think the Slytherin rooms had been searched pretty well. Mainly because all Slytherins want to find out they're the Heir, I guess."

"That's something, at least- We know where not to look."

Susan started pacing. "It would be so much easier if we knew what we were dealing with! If I had seen it I could _Descry Creature _and find out where it is. If I knew where the chamber was but not how to get there I could use _Destination. _What's the point of having a book full of spells when they won't do you any good?"

"You'll think of something, I'm sure."

"I'm having a hard enough time coming up with a christmas present for all you guys this year. You want me to solve this mystery too?"

They both laughed.

As December approached Albus finally agreed to allow Susan to start up the old Quirinus equipment and start combat lessons again. The students were getting more and more nervous about things, and traveling in packs about the school. Which Susan actually thought was a terrible idea, because that just meant more people would get caught by whatever was petrifying people, rather then less.

Susan also "dropped" her _Barrier Against Spells _and picked up _Magic Immunity _instead. It was only 1 more XP, and her _Spell Symbol _item was carrying the spell anyway, so why not? It would make sure she couldn't be petrified by whatever had come out of the chamber, and that's what counted.

_Good thing I learned about _Spell Symbol, she thought. _Before I made that item like I planned to. I would have felt pretty foolish right about now, had I done things that way._

The news about the combat lessons was met with a lot of excitement by everyone, and so Susan was busy working overseeing that, and on _Imbued _items for her friends Christmas gifts. Naturally several teachers were in attendance at all times, and things went smoothly, for the most part. Until one day when Draco showed up.

"I'm challenging you to a dual," he announced, looking at Susan.

Everyone looked at him like he was nuts. "Are you sure about that?" asked one boy. "She beat professor Quirrell, and he ran away!"

_We never did find out who that was, did we? Or who tried to kill me that one time._

"She thinks she's so great, I'm going to take her down a peg!"

"Fine," said Susan, resigned. "Go nuts if it'll make you feel better."

They stepped into the barrier, and Susan quietly fingered a charm on her bracelet. "Immunity," she said, activating _Magic Immunity, _with a duration of _until I step out of this ring area. _She had changed the trigger word on each spell to reflect what it did after she found out they couldn't all be activated in one action. Less chance of the wrong one activating by accident, after all.

They waited for the gong that would tell them to begin, and with the sound, Draco started casting spells at her.

Which of course bounced right off.

"Kinda figured that would happen," said Draco, pausing in his barrage. "That's why I came prepared with this! _Serpensortia!"_

Susan watched, fascinated, as a long black snake seemed to materialize out of his wand and fall to the floor between them. It reared up, tasting the air.

"Neat!" Susan said, cocking her head and looking at it. "Is it an actual snake you just summoned from somewhere, or is it some kind of magical construct you created?"

Draco sputtered. "I don't have to answer that!"

"Guess I'll have to actually cast a spell," she said. _Because if it's just a magical construct, I'm immune to it. If it's a real snake, not so much. Another little flaw in my magic, I guess. Maybe I should look into _Invulnerability _as well?_

"Not to worry," said Gilderoy, the "officiator" for the day. He jumped into the field. "I'll take care of it!"

As Susan was debating whether to cast _Thrust _on him to get him out of here he pointed his wand at the snake.

_Oh right, these people don't respect the Action methodology. They just get to do whatever they want, when they want._

Instead of vanishing as he (hopefully) intended, the snake began to enlarge, and even Draco started looking worried.

_Can that man perform any spell correctly?_

The snake stopped growing and opened its mouth, looking at Susan. _Really wish I had _Acceleration_ on right now. Oh, right, I'm currently "immune" to it. Shoot. Still, a quick casting of Elemental Burst (Knockout) should do the trick._

Then the snake turned and looked at Harry. He was standing there, actually hissing at the thing.

_Okay, that's bizarre. But at least it's distracted. I'll take the full casting time then._

Susan cast, and 5 segments later an eruption of energy filled the area between the posts.

_Pity Gilderoy wasn't still in here, the man can scurry when there's trouble, I'll give him that. _

She got an 18 on her casting check, and made it 4 meters wide, centered in the middle of the "arena." The snake went down, unmoving, and when the energy burst cleared Draco was on the floor as well, clutching his right leg. Susan of course was still immune, even to her own magic.

"All that, and you only got hit in the leg?" Susan asked, shocked. "Weird. Of course it only had two chances to hit you, but getting a five both times…"

"What are you babbling about? My leg is broken!"

"No it's not, you big baby. That damage was non-lethal, I specifically learned it with _Knockout _rather then something like _Acid _or _Fire. _It can't carry over into lethal, that's the whole point. Are we done here? Because if so, I'll heal you up."

"Don't you come near me! Crab! Goyle! Take me up to the Hospital Wing. My father will hear about this, mark my words."

His two goons rushed to his size and carefully picked him up, and Draco played it up as much as he could. They hobbled off. Everyone else was looking at her.

"So, anyone else want to have a go? That wasn't even a warm up. I thought he had a little something more exciting then a snake planned, to tell the truth."

No one stepped forward, so Susan walked over and picked up the snake.

"Here you go, Mr Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, handing it to Gilderoy. "I expect you can take care of one little unconscious snake, yes?"

He held it as far away from himself as he could. "Certainly. I'll just go take care of that, shall I?"

"So what was that?" asked Harry as she walked back over.

"Just what I said- _Elemental Burst. _It creates an explosion of a certain element, chosen when you learn the spell. I chose the 'element' _Knockout _which basically just renders whatever limb it hits unusable for a while. If I get high enough of the damage roll, that is. The bigger question is, why did that snake hesitate and look over at you?"

"I just yelled at it to stop, that's all. You must have heard me."

Everyone seemed to be edging away from Harry at this point, and Susan looked around.

"What's the matter with you all?" she demanded. "Get back to practicing! You knew how powerful I was before this when I fought Professor Quirrell. Why are you looking at me like I just grew fangs or something? I learned a new spell, you people do it all the time!"

"I think they're looking at me," Harry remarked softly to her.

"But there's no teacher," one person said, looking around.

"Trust me, with our so called teacher gone we're actually safer. Very well, go run and find someone willing to take over then."

"Me?"

"Why not you?"

"Sure. Sure, why not? Going now! HAHAHA."

"Weird. Come on, not you too Ron." Ron was backing away as well. "What's gotten into everyone?"

"Harry's a Parselmouth!" he said. "He can talk to snakes."

"Is that all? Who cares? I mean, yes, interesting that snakes have a language that people can speak, but that doesn't make him a monster. I could talk to it if I woke it up and cast a spell."

"I guess I _can_ talk to snakes," Harry said, looking at nothing. "I never really thought about it, but one time at the zoo I talked to a boa constrictor."

"Yeah, I'm still not sure what the big deal is."

Ron pointed to a Slytherin boy standing nearby. "Don't you know why the symbol of their house is a snake? Salazar was a Parsemouth, and it's passed through family lines."

"Well I'm sure there were more families then his that could do it."

"Maybe, but not many."

"Look," said Harry, turning to the others. "I'm not, okay? There's no way."

"Yeah?" said a Slytherin girl. "Prove it! He lived a thousand years ago, so who knows how many great, great, great, great grandkids he's got."

"But I got sorted into Gryffindor, not Slytherin."

There was a general consent that this much, at least, was true.

"And if he is, Susan here will stop him, right?" asked a younger boy from Hufflepuff. There was some nervous laughter.

Susan shrugged. "Count on it. But I grew up with the guy. No way is he the Heir of Slytherin, trust me."

They seemed torn, as most really looked up to and respected Susan, so they wanted to believe her. But the possibility of Harry being someone they feared, someone who was setting things loose in the castle to try and kill people… That was a bit harder to reconcile, no matter how highly Susan was regarded.

The meeting broke up quickly after that.

—

24.2

Time: The next day

Place: Gryffindor common room.

After an intense snowstorm canceled Herbology, Susan put some more time into making her christmas gifts. She had begged off making the ones for the school awhile ago, and was working on the gifts instead. Albus said he didn't care what she worked on, as long as she practiced the same amount other students put into potions class. She thought that was a pretty good deal, given she was working harder at _Imbuing _then they were at potions. She also thought about telling him that "practicing" had nothing to do with her getting better at something, but figured that would just confuse him more, so she let it go.

She was starting on Hagrid's, and had learned a new spell to do it. After being attacked by that snake she started to wonder if better wizards could summon bigger things, and so looked into _Magical Ally, _both _Minor _and _Major._ _Minor _only got her PER in powers (a five), and _Major _was only two XP more, so _Major _it was. She settled on a small dragon, and started working on an _Imbued _item like Mrs. Weasley's _Helping Hand _item. It was a small dragon statue he could toss and activate, and the dragon like creature would form around it, basically "coming to life". As she watched her dragon, (which was the size of a bear), could breathe fire, fetch sticks, and even fight another copy of itself.

_Perfect, he'll love it! Now to start putting it into an object._

That one was going to take the longest, because she had to make it permanent rather then energy based. After all, she couldn't exactly go ask him "Rubeus, what's your RESolve? An eight or higher? Fantastic."

She was scrounging around the dorms for stuff in trashcans she could use for the "materials costing 10 monetary units times its EXP cost" when a familiar animal flew up to her.

"Susan," it said in Albus' voice, "There's been another attack. Please come to the 4th floor, east hallway. Your skills are needed."

_Not good, _thought Susan. _Especially so soon after everyone found out Harry could talk to snakes. But what skills of mine does he need? I looked Colin over, there wasn't anything I could tell them. Wonder if I should tell the others?_

Susan made her way there, deciding not to interrupt the game of wizard's chess that was going on. Her new _Magical Ally _led the way and she herself was under _Magic Immunity, _just in case. It seemed best not to take any chances at this point. She climbed up the stairs to the 4th floor and wondered how to figure out which the "east" hallway was, when she came upon the Headmaster and a few other teachers. The area had been blocked off by a shimmering, partially transparent wall, but she could vaguely see them through it.

_Some sort of _Elemental Wall _I guess? _

She knocked on it, and part of the wall disappeared, allowing her through.

Beyond, she saw a Hufflepuff boy, Justin, laying on the floor, but something else drew her eye. Hanging in midair was the pale form of "headless" Nick, rotating in place but unmoving.

"How is this even possible?" asked Susan, walking around him. "He's a ghost!"

"Exactly our concern," said Albus sadly. Then he caught sight of the dragon. "Uh, this creature…"

"He's harmless. He's just guarding me until I get back to the dorm. Don't worry, it's a magical construct under my control. It won't hurt anyone."

"Your scare with the snake?"

"I wasn't exactly scared, Headmaster. I took it out with a single spell, after all. But I admit it crossed my mind that better wizards could summon larger things, so I figured it might do to have something like this around."

"Your magic continues to astonish me. In any case, it is your magic we need right now, specifically your ability to touch ghosts."

"You want Sir Nicholas moved to the hospital wing, but you can't do it?"

"Correct."

Susan looked about. "Probably better to go there directly, rather then cart him through the halls." She looked down at her dragon. "You need a name! Spike? Nah, the Bronies would get upset you weren't canon. Anyway, you did good. Good boy. See you later!"

She let him go, and started casting _Teleportal_, which made everyone there react like Ron had the first time he had seen it.

"Oh yeah," Susan said with a laugh as the teachers looked through it. She had positioned the other end by the wall, so that it would't impact anything, and behind a screen so no one on that side would see it. "I forget you hadn't seen this spell before."

_Crap, now that I think about it, will I be able to push him through? I don't see why not, it's a hole in space, not something physical. _

"You can just open a hole in the universe to anywhere you want?" Albus asked.

"Not just anywhere. I have to have seen the place the other end connects to."

"And I thought I was the most powerful wizard on the planet," Albus grumbled.

"Just because we can do different things doesn't make me more powerful then you," said Susan. "But given a few more years of XP gain and spell learning? I wouldn't mind the title."

She cast _Phase_ on herself, then grabbed Nick and dragged him through. The others floated Justin through, and Susan closed it behind them.

"Where do you want him?" she asked.

"Right over here," said Albus. "We'll put some curtains up around him."

"How did you all get in here?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"Magic," answered Albus.

"I'm guessing you've always wanted to say that," Susan said, rolling her eyes.

"Perhaps."

They made Justin "comfortable" and the others teachers left to go back to their classes.

"Who found him, by the way?"

"Would you believe Peeves?"

"Oh great. So much for keeping it quiet!"

"Yes, not much chance of that."

"I don't want to sound callus, but does this tell us anything else about the attacker? I wouldn't think many things could bring harm to a ghost."

"Apart from you, I would have said nothing could, before this."

"Ah. Yes. I suppose I am a suspect. Possibly even the number one suspect. You haven't seen all my magic can do, and I could easily have been lying about my petrification spells turning people to stone, rather then these sort of living statues."

"I'm glad you figured that out. However, unless you can be in two places at once, you were playing with your new dragon friend during the attack. That rather rules you out."

"Unless my magic can allow me to be in two places at once."

"Can it do that?"

"Maybe. There are some time spells I could learn, that would do it. But the description is unclear as to exactly what happens if you go into the past and make changes. I'm not really ready to risk that quite yet. But honestly, if I could be in two places at once, I would put one of me to making _Imbued _items while the other did things a little more fun."

"I suppose that's true. Very well. Thank you for your help in moving Nicholas."

"My pleasure. I wish I could do more, but making permanent _Magic Immunity _items for every person in the castle is a little bit beyond even my abilities."

"Nor would I expect you to. But please do continue to keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when a clue might make itself known."

"I will."

"By the way, how's Fawkes?"

"Still looking dreadful. Even a creature that is reborn as the phoenix does seems hesitant to let life slip away. I can't blame him, you know. Still, when it is one's time, there is no denying the call. Thank you for asking after him, however."

"I just want to see the baby Fawkes, I bet he'll be so cute!"

"You have no idea."

Many people who had signed the list to stay over the holiday hastily took their names off once it got out about the double attack. Ron was stuck for it, and started hanging around Susan more, and Hermione asked if Susan would do what she did the year before and take her home for Christmas Day. Susan told her she had a better idea, why not invite them here for the day as well? She said she would ask.

Harry wasn't going back _there _if he could help it, and Susan got permission to bring her mother to the castle and show her around. She wasn't sure about having her there while there was such danger, but as long as they stuck together, Susan reasoned, she should be fine. It seemed the Weasley family was staying at the castle as well, and Susan offered to bring Mr and Mrs. Weasley in for Christmas day as well.

"It'll be a great party!" Susan explained to him. "My mother, Hermione's parents, your parents, the teachers. All feasting and getting to know each other. We're all friends, I don't see why they shouldn't meet."

"They'll be in Egypt with Bill, though," he said.

"So have them send me a picture."

"Oh yeah!"

Naturally, the thing everyone was most looking forward to was Susan's gifts. Susan and Hermione went in together on Ron's, Hermione buying him a shimmering eagle feather quill, and Susan _Imbuing _it. She put her spell of _Scribe_ on it, as she had noticed him looking at her paper filling up with notes in history class.

Hermione opened hers and pulled out some fancy robes, which she exclaimed over until she tried them on.

"They're a bit too big," she said, trailing the end on the ground.

"They're that way on purpose," Susan explained. "After all, why make special robes if you're going to outgrow them? So you'll have to find some way of putting them up if you want to wear them until you're fully grown."

"I can just pin them up."

Susan shook her head. "Nope. I meant it when I said they were special. These robes will never wear out, ever. They'll stop a sword thrust, as they are basically plate armor now, and should someone manage to pierce them they'll magically repair themselves. So getting something like a pin through them is probably impossible. Some tape would work though."

"Wow! Thanks! That's amazing!"

"Sure. It was nice _Fabricating _something for a change rather then _Imbuing."_

Harry took a piece of paper, which was his gift, out of the wrapping. He read it over. "Oh, now I see. That's pretty neat."

"What did you get him?" asked Ron.

"I kept asking him for his glasses, so he knew something was up, just not exactly what. Basically I've done a minor _Fabrication _on them, so they'll be tougher to break. But the real magic comes from _Darksight. _At night, or even in perfect darkness, he can activate them and see perfectly. In black and white, of course, but still perfectly."

"Thanks!" said Harry.

"I wonder if Rubeus figured his gift out?" Susan asked, the gift giving over. She had Hermione do a spell to cover his gift with wax, and made it look like the dragon's egg he had hatched last year. Inside the box she had written some clues for him.

_Rubeus,_

_ It's a pity about Norbert, so I got you another friend just like him. _

_ Hatch this egg just like you would any other dragon's egg, but keep a close watch, he'll have a short gestation._

_ When he's hatched, you'll notice he's a bit shy, but he'll have left something behind you can use to see him. Put it on, and he'll appear for you. He can understand you, and he'll do anything you tell him to do that he's capable of. He loves playing fetch, but he can also dig things up, protect your hut, or even breathe fire. He can trap, hunt and help you do just about anything you know how to do. He doesn't need to eat or sleep, so don't worry about that._

_ He can fight on your behalf too, he's great at unarmed combat and wrestling. Don't worry about him getting hurt. If he "dies" he'll return within 24 hours. _

_ Enjoy!_

_ Santa_

_ P.S. Don't have him use too much fire ether, that will make him disappear for a while too._

Susan had snuck down to his hut to see how big his finger was, and made him a stone ring with a dragon motif. _The statue idea was nice, but this seems more practical._ As the spell was permanent, all he had to do to summon the _Ally _was put it on, and the creature would appear and do whatever he told it. It would be as smart as he was, and have his skills, so Susan was pretty sure he would love it. She had left it for him inside his hut, _Phase _once again coming in handy.

The Christmas feast went well, everyone having been transported to Hogwarts for the occasion. The four showed off their classrooms and what they had been learning, and generally had a great time. Susan introduced her mother to Myrtle, who was amazed to be talking to an actual ghost like it was a person, and Myrtle enjoyed being included in the festivities. She did pull Susan aside and apologize for not finding the Chamber, but Susan explained it might not be possible to find without the right password, and said she shouldn't feel bad about it.

"I'm trying not to," Myrtle said, looking downcast. "It's just so hard not to be negative about everything."

"You're doing really well," said Susan. "The you I originally met wouldn't have taken this in stride even this much. You've made tremendous progress."

"Thanks. It's all because of you."

"Maybe, maybe not. I thought of a present for you, by the way. Once everyone leaves I'll fix up your bathroom with _Repair _magic. No sense leaving everything in here all busted up if this is where you live. The others agreed to help clean it up too, so we'll be along later."

"You're way too nice to me."

"No, I wish I could do more. I made some great gifts for my friends this year, so you should be treated equally. You're my friend too, after all."

"Friends? I never had- Oh!" Myrtle zoomed away, overcome by emotion.

_One step forward, two steps back. Sigh._

With Slytherin house already infiltrated, and Hermione avoiding her fate of being turned into every Otaku's dream girl, everyone went to bed that night happy and fulfilled.

Those that did go to bed, anyway. Myrtle floated around her sparkling clean, newly _Repaired _bathroom, wondering how she could repay her friend. A friend she never thought she would have, especially in death.

Rubeus didn't sleep, he stayed up all night playing with his new dragon friend.

And then there was poor Ginny, who was starting to feel like she was losing her mind. She had been making the equivalent of a Susan _Acting _check all night to fool everyone into thinking things were normal. The trouble was, was such a good actor, everyone believed her. No one suspected that inside, Ginny was troubled.

Because Ginny was startling to hear voices.


End file.
